High metabolic inflammation trajectories predict faster frailty progression in older adults

Researchers analyzed prospective data from 3,947 Chinese and 1,431 English middle-aged and older adults to examine how combined metabolic and inflammatory burdens affect frailty. The team tracked longitudinal trajectories of the C-reactive protein-triglyceride-glucose index and grouped participants into low, moderate, and high categories using k-means clustering. Frailty was evaluated over time using a 31-item index. Compared with the consistently low group, adults in the high trajectory group exhibited worse frailty scores at baseline. Over follow-up, the high trajectory group faced an increased risk of incident frailty, with hazard ratios of 1.24 in the Chinese cohort and 1.42 in the English cohort. Linear mixed-effects modeling confirmed that participants in the high-trajectory group accumulated deficits significantly faster over time, an effect that remained robust across body mass index categories.