Cognitive Frailty and Its Risk Factors Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease Receiving Hemodialysis: A Cross‐Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Cognitive frailty can lead to an impaired functional capacity and a poor quality of life, especially in patients on hemodialysis. This study aimed to investigate cognitive frailty and its risk factors in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) receiving hemodialysis. A cross‐sectional study was conducted between April and June 2021 involving 220 patients with CKD receiving hemodialysis at a hospital‐based hemodialysis center in northern Taiwan. Data were collected using a structured survey covering demographics, cognitive function, physical frailty, depressive symptoms, physical activity, and nutritional status. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify risk factors for cognitive frailty. In total, 220 patients were recruited. Prevalences of cognitive impairment, physical frailty, depressive symptoms, and cognitive frailty were 46.8%, 10.0%, 52.3%, and 9%, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age, sex, and years of hemodialysis, identified malnutrition (aOR = 12.405; 95% CI = 3.29–46.81) and physical inactivity (aOR = 89.445; 95% CI = 5.87–1363.93) as significant risk factors for cognitive frailty. The study suggests the need for strategies to enhance physical activity and nutritional status to prevent cognitive frailty in patients with CKD receiving hemodialysis.