Is the Pentagon-Copying Task More than a Cognitive Feature? Associations with Handgrip Strength, Gait Speed, and Frailty in Older Adults.

Background: The pentagon copy is a sensitive item to the prediction of cognitive decline and dementia. Cognitive and physical/motor decline are able to accelerate the evolution of each other by representing a common pathway toward frailty.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate the association of the pentagon-copying task with physical and motor performances and with frailty, in a sample of older adults.

Method: This observational, cross-sectional, and single-center study was conducted in a Geriatric Outpatients Clinic. Subjects aged ≥65 years were consecutively recruited, on a voluntary basis. Subjects with positive psychiatric history, with a severe neurocognitive disorder, with severe limitations on the upper limbs and/or reporting sensory deficits were excluded. The pentagon-copying task was scored from the Mini-Mental State Examination; the Qualitative Scoring Pentagon Test (QSPT) was also used. Handgrip strength was measured; a 46-item Frailty Index was calculated; in subjects with autonomous walking, a 4-meter gait speed was also measured.

Results: The study included 253 subjects (mean age 80.59 ± 6.89 years). Subjects making a wrong pentagon copy showed greater odds of exhibiting a strength deficit (OR = 3.57; p = 0.001) and of being frail (OR = 4.80; p < 0.001), and exhibited a slower gait. The QSTP score was significantly correlated with handgrip strength (r = 0.388) and gait speed (r = 0.188) and inversely correlated with frailty (r = -0.428); the QSTP score was significantly different between the quartiles of handgrip strength and frailty.

Conclusions: The pentagon-copying task might also be confirmed as a quick screening tool of aging trajectories toward frailty by jointly evaluating cognitive and physical performances.