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Do physical activity, smoking, drinking, or depression modify transitions from cognitive impairment to functional
Pamela M Rist1, Jessica R Marden2, Benjamin D Capistrant3
1Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Journal of Alzheimer'S Disease : JAD
|November 20, 2014
Summary
Physical activity may help prevent instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) limitations in older adults at risk for dementia. Other factors like smoking or depression showed no significant protection for the cognitively impaired.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Cognitive Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Individual-level factors can delay basic activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations in cognitively impaired individuals.
- This study investigates if these factors also delay instrumental ADLs (IADL) limitations in those at elevated dementia risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if modifiable individual-level factors delay incident IADL limitations in adults stratified by dementia risk.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Health and Retirement Study data (n=5,219) of adults aged 65+ without prior activity limitations.
- Employed Poisson regression to predict incident IADL limitations based on dementia probability quartiles and individual-level modifiers (physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol, depression).
Main Results:
- Higher dementia probability quartile predicted fewer incident IADL limitations (RR=0.44).
- Physical inactivity significantly increased IADL limitation risk (RR=1.60) and had a greater effect in cognitively normal individuals.
- Smoking, alcohol abstinence, and depression did not significantly increase IADL limitation risk among the cognitively impaired.
Conclusions:
- Physical activity may offer protection against IADL limitations.
- Other investigated factors do not provide substantial protection for the cognitively impaired.
- Individuals with cognitive decline require additional support for IADLs.
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