Longitudinal Associations between Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Cognition in Older Adults: A 10-Year Follow-Up from...

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with better cognition in older adults. However, the long-term associations between CRF levels and cognitive outcomes remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between baseline CRF, changes in CRF (from baseline to year 1 and year 3) and cognition in older adults.

We included 770 cognitively healthy older adults (367 females; mean age: 72.0 ± 2 years at baseline) from the Generation 100 Study. All participants had complete data on CRF and important confounding factors (age, sex, educational attainment, and self-rated memory at baseline). CRF was measured directly as peak oxygen uptake using ergospirometry. Cognition was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 3-, 5-, and 10 years after baseline. Linear mixed models were used to assess the relationship between CRF at baseline, changes in CRF, and MoCA score over time.

The mean MoCA score at 3-, 5-, 10-year follow up was 25.3, 25.0, and 24.8, respectively. Higher baseline CRF predicted 0.06 higher MoCA score at year 3 (95% CI: 0.02-0.09) and 0.07 at year 5 (95% CI: 0.03-0.11) but was not associated with MoCA score at year 10 (β: 0.02, 95% CI: -0.02 to 0.06). Neither 1-year nor 3-year changes in CRF were associated with MoCA scores at any later time points.

Changes in CRF over 1 and 3 years were not associated with cognition in healthy older adults. However, higher baseline CRF was linked to better cognition up to 5 years later, suggesting that achieving and maintaining an age-relative high CRF before entering the 8th decade of life might benefit cognitive aging.