Frailty Syndrome Prevalence and Its Correlation with Cognitive Function in Elderly Surgical Inpatients

Background: Frailty is a geriatric syndrome, and a common negative consequence of aging, which shares some obvious characteristics as cognitive impairment. Preventing and relieving frailty may reduce the possibility of developing cognitive impairment. Objective: This study aimed to investigate frailty prevalence and its correlation with cognitive function in elderly surgical inpatients. Methods: We enrolled a random sample of elderly surgical inpatients from Jingzhou from June 2020 to August 2020. We used a self-made registration sheet to collect their demographic data (gender, age, nationality, educational level and monthly income), and used the FRAIL Scale to assess the prevalence of frailty, and used the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to assess cognitive function. We used multiple linear regression analysis to explore the correlation between frailty level and demographic data, then Pearson correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between frailty and cognitive function. Results: In the 143 elderly surgical inpatients, prevalence of frail was seen in 29 (20.3%), and pre-frail state was found in 64 (44.8%). Only 50 (34.9%) were in healthy state. Cognitive impairment was seen in 28 (19.5%). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the frail scoring was correlated with cognitive function in elderly surgical inpatients (r = -0.378, P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of frailty is high in elderly surgical inpatients, which is closely related to age and gender. Elderly surgical inpatients have high cognitive impairment, and frailty appears strongly associated with cognitive status. The findings suggest that attention should be paid to the frailty and cognitive function in the elderly surgical inpatients by pro-vision of effective interventions.

Tiaobu Xinshen Recipe (调补心肾方) Improved Mild Cognitive Impairment of Alzheimer’s Disease Patients with Xin (Heart) and Shen (Kidney) Deficiency

Objective: To observe the intervention effects of Tiaobu Xinshen Recipe(调补心肾方, TXR) on patients with mild cognitive impairment caused by Alzheimer’s disease(MCI-AD). Methods: Totally 88 MCI-AD patients with syndrome of Xin(Heart) and Shen(Kidney) deficiency were assigned to the experimental group(47 cases, treated with TXR) and the control group(41 cases, treated with donepezil hydrochloride) using a random number table. Final recruited qualified patients were 44 cases in the experimental group and 39 cases in the control group. The therapeutic course was 12 weeks. Neuropsychological scales [mini mental state examination(MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)], and Chinese medicine(CM) dementia syndromes scales were performed in all patients, and results were compared between groups or intra-group before and after treatment. Results: MMSE and Mo CA scores of the two groups were increased after treatment compared with those before treatment(P<0.05). But there was no statistical difference in MMSE or MOCA scores after treatment between the two groups(P>0.05). CM dementia syndrome score was significantly decreased after treatment in the experimental group compared with the control group(P<0.01). Visual spatial and executive function scores and delayed recall scores of the two groups were increased compared with those before treatment(P<0.01). Conclusion: TXR could effectively improve cognitive impairment of MCI-AD patients with syndrome of Xin and Shen deficiency.

Clinical Study on Effect of Xianlong Capsule (仙龙胶囊) in Treating Senile Vascular Dementia

Objective: To assess the efficacy of Xianlong Capsule (XLC) in treating senile vascular dementia (VD). Methods: Forty six patients of VD were randomly divided into two groups. The patients in XLC group (n=24) were treated with XLC and the patients in the control group (n=22) were treated with Hydergine. The therapeutic effect on dementia, TCM Syndrome, neurofunction deficit score, activities of daily living (ADL) score, Hasegawa Dementia Score (HDS) and mini mental state examination (MMSE), etc. were examined and compared before and after treatment.Results: XLC could markedly increase MMSE scores and HDS of VD patients. It showed effect in ameliorating the TCM Syndromes and neurofunction deficit score significantly and could markedly improve the daily living activity of patients. The effect of XLC was better than that of Hydergine.Conclusion: XLC has definite effect in treating senile vascular dementia.