Preventing Cognitive Frailty: What People Know and What They Are Willing to Change

Cognitive frailty (CF), defined as the co-existence of physical frailty and cognitive impairment in the absence of dementia, may be preventable. Interventions could target modifiable risk factors that promote healthy aging. However, awareness of public knowledge of CF and willingness to engage in preventative behaviors, particularly across demographic groups, remains limited.

To assess awareness of CF, current health behaviors, and attitudes toward the preventing it, we conducted a cross-sectional survey, collecting responses from people aged 21 and older and living in the United Kingdom. The survey assessed participants' beliefs, knowledge, and behaviors related to CF. Levels of knowledge and behaviors were compared across demographic groups, including age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation, education, and health status. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess whether familiarity with CF and beliefs about its preventability were associated with perceptions of how important different behaviors are and current and future behavior engagement.

A total of 4520 adults (aged 21-97 years, 70% male, 97% white, 60% having an undergraduate or postgraduate qualification) participated. Most respondents reported good knowledge of CF (80%) and believed CF could be prevented (91%). Participants engaging in behaviors to prevent CF and willing to engage in these behaviors in the future were more likely to be older (60-79 years old), male, white, and highly educated. Those from underserved groups were less likely to be engaging in health behaviors associated with lower risk of CF but reported willingness to engage in the future. Self-rated health was the biggest barrier to willingness to engage in future behaviors.

The findings suggest that while some groups are less engaged in healthy aging behaviors, their willingness to adopt preventative strategies highlights the potential of targeted interventions. Tailoring approaches to specific demographic groups might enhance engagement and support equitable promotion of healthy aging to prevent CF.