LAUSR

Adults aging with HIV face elevated rates of frailty than the general aging population and are frail at younger ages, but associations between frailty and cognition in HIV are not well understood. The study aimed to examine: 1) relationships between frailty index and age, and whether relationships differed by HIV status; 2) relationships between frailty index and cognitive performance, and whether relationships differed by HIV-status. It was hypothesized that 1) the frailty index would significantly predict age in non-infected (HIV-) controls but not HIV-infected (HIV+) adults; 2) higher frailty index scores would significantly predict worse cognitive functioning regardless of HIV-status. Participants included 109 (39.4% HIV+) participants aged ≥45 from a community-based sample in Los Angeles. HIV-status groups did not differ by age, education, or race (p’s > .10). Frailty was assessed using a deficit accumulation frailty index (DAFI) composed of 32 age-related health variables. A comprehensive neurocognitive battery was used to examine motor, processing speed, executive functioning, verbal fluency, learning, memory, and global functioning. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess relationships between the DAFI and age and cognitive performance, and HIV-by-frailty interaction. DAFI scores were higher in HIV+ adults compared to HIV- controls. The DAFI significantly predicted global, motor, and memory performance (p’s < .05), but the effect was only observed in HIV- controls. The DAFI did not significantly predict age in either group. Findings highlight that relationships between frailty and cognition may be complicated in patients with chronic health conditions. Frailty may not predict cognitive dysfunction in aging HIV+ adults.