Intrinsic capacity in Lewy body dementia: a review

Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by diminished physiological reserves and increased vulnerability to stressors. While frailty has been largely studied in Alzheimer's disease, few study focused on Lewy body dementia (LBD). Beyond frailty, the World Health Organization recently highlights the concept of intrinsic capacity (IC), offering a promising framework for the early identification and intervention to mitigate the risk of frailty and disability in older adults. IC refers to an individual's physical and mental abilities (including five dimensions: sensory, psychology, locomotion, vitality and cognition), which support the maintenance of functional capacity and promote healthy aging. In this review, we aimed to describe the prevalence of IC decline in LBD and its potential consequences. While few studies focused specifically on this question, we found evidence in the literature of a higher prevalence of IC decline in LBD, compared to cognitively unimpaired older adults and to Alzheimer's disease patients. If future studies are needed to confirm these results, we assume that IC assessment and monitoring in LBD may be a further step towards a better integrated and personalized care for patients. This may open the avenue to develop specific tailored interventions, to decrease disability and increase quality of life and "healthy ageing" of patients despite the presence of LBD.