Prof Tan Maw Pin is a Professor of Geriatric Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. She trained in Nottingham and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, before returning to Malaysia in 2011 to join Universiti Malaya’s Division of Geriatric Medicine. She has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, with research focusing on falls prevention and dementia.

Prof Tan is also active in advocacy and leadership. She is the President of the Dementia Association of Malaysia (DAMAI), immediate past President of the Malaysian Society of Geriatric Medicine, and former Honorary Secretary of the College of Physicians of Malaysia.

Cognitive Frailty Trajectories and Outcomes

Abstract

Cognitive Frailty is defined as the co-occurrence of both mild cognitive impairment and physical frailty. The Transforming Cognitive Frailty into Later-Life Self-Sufficiency (AGELESS) research programme was funded by a RM6 million grant from the Ministry of Higher Education Long Term Research Grant. This study followed up a group of 2000 older adults initially recruited in 2013 by two older studies: MELoR and TUA started by UM and UKM, and brings together 50 researchers for seven private and public universities: UM, UPM, UiTM, UKM, Monash Malaysia, UTP and Swinburne Sarawak.

Through this study, we have established that cognitive frailty is a transitional state, and over the years older adults with different categories of the cognitive frailty spectrum may improve or get worse. We found, however, that having poorer mental health reduced that the chances of recovery. Our data and findings will now inform strategies to detect cognitive frailty early and to develop effective strategies to reduce the burden of negative outcomes linked cognitive frailty.