Association between physical-activity trajectories and cognitive decline in adults 50 years of age or older. (27th December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cheval, Boris; Csajbók, Zsófia; Formánek, Tomáš; Sieber, Stefan; Boisgontier, Matthieu P.; Cullati, Stéphane; Cermakova, Pavla
• Is Part Of: Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences. Volume 30(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-12-27
• Subjects: Aging -- cognition -- longitudinal studies -- physical activity; Epidemiology -- Periodicals; Mental illness -- Periodicals; Community psychiatry -- Periodicals; 362.2
• DOI: 10.1017/S2045796021000688
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7960

Abstract

Abstract: Aims: To investigate the associations of physical-activity trajectories with the level of cognitive performance (CP) and its decline in adults 50 years of age or older. Methods: We studied 38 729 individuals (63 ± 9 years; 57% women) enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Physical activity was self-reported and CP was assessed based on immediate recall, verbal fluency and delayed recall. Physical-activity trajectories were estimated using growth mixture modelling and linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate the associations between the trajectories and CP. Results: The models identified two trajectories of physical activity: constantly high physical activity ( N = 27 634: 71%) and decreasing physical activity ( N = 11 095; 29%). Results showed that participants in the decreasing physical-activity group exhibited a lower level of CP compared to the high physical-activity group (immediate recall: ß = 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.92–0.95; verbal fluency: ß = 0.98; 95% CI = 0.97–0.98; delayed recall: ß = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.94–0.97). Moreover, compared with participants in the constantly high physical-activity group, participants in the decreasing physical-activity group showed a steeper decline in all cognitive measures (immediate recall: ß = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05 to −0.04; verbal fluency: ß = −0.22; 95% CI = −0.24 to −0.21; delayed recall: ß = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05 to −0.04). Conclusions: Physical-activity trajectories are associated with the level and evolution of CP in adults over 50 years. Specifically, our findings suggest that a decline in physical activity over multiple years is associated with a lower level and a steeper decline in CP.