What question did this study set out to answer?

This research explores the relationship between frailty and insulin resistance in relation to cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome progression.

January 10, 2026Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome0 citationsOpen Access

Longitudinal changes in frailty, insulin resistance and incident cardiovascular-kidney- metabolic syndrome progression in middle-aged and older adults: evidence from CHARLS

Q: What does this research mean for the field?

Baseline frailty and its progression are independently associated with an elevated risk of advanced cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome in middle-aged and older adults. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

QHQi HuangAffiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University XLXian LuoAffiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University TYTao YangUniversity of Science and Technology of China

Key Result

Baseline frailty and its progression were independently associated with an elevated risk of advanced CKM syndrome in middle-aged and older adults.

Key Points

This research explores the relationship between frailty and insulin resistance in relation to cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome progression.
Evaluated baseline frailty levels and their changes over time
Analyzed insulin resistance as a mediator
Focus on middle-aged and older adults from the CHARLS dataset
Baseline frailty and its progression correlate with increased CKM syndrome risk
Insulin resistance partially mediates the frailty and CKM syndrome relationship
Identifying insulin resistance as a modifiable target for interventions

Structured PICO

Does baseline frailty and its progression over time increase the risk of incident advanced cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome in middle-aged and older adults?

Population

4,615 adults aged 45 years and older (mean age 56.6, 33.8% male) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) cohort. Key exclusions: incomplete frailty index data, age below 45 years, baseline stage 3 or 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD), or lost to follow-up.

Intervention

Baseline frailty and longitudinal progression of frailty over 4 years (assessed via a 32-item Frailty Index [FI] categorized into robust, pre-frail, and frail).

Comparator

Stably robust individuals (for transition analysis) or individuals in the lowest tertile of Frailty Index/change in Frailty Index.

Outcome

Incident advanced Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome (AHA stages 3-4) at 4-year follow-up.composite

Baseline frailty and its progression over time are independently associated with an elevated risk of advanced CKM syndrome, a relationship partially mediated by insulin resistance.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%

Abstract

Both baseline frailty and its progression over time were independently associated with an elevated risk of advanced CKM syndrome. IR was identified as a partial mediator in this relationship. This finding suggests that IR may serve as a modifiable biological target for intervention.

Ask AI

Helpful

Bookmark

View Full Paper