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Age-Varying Relationships Between Physical Function and Cognition in Older Adulthood

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  • Briana N Sprague
  • Christine B Phillips
  • Lesley A Ross

Abstract

Objectives There are positive relationships between physical and cognitive function in older adulthood; however, the strength of these relationships are inconsistent across studies. Although novel statistical tools provide flexibility to explore age-related differences in relationship magnitude, such methods have not been implemented in gerontological research. This study applied such methods to examine variations in relationship magnitude between physical function and cognition in healthy older adults (N = 2,783). Method Time-varying effects modeling (TVEM) is an extension of regression that models changes in relationships as a function of time-varying metrics like age. TVEM was used to examine if physical function (Turn 360, grip strength) predicted cognitive performance (memory, processing speed/attention, and reasoning) similarly across adults aged 65–90. Results All associations between Turn 360 and all cognitive domains were significant and positive; however, speed of processing had significant magnitude variation across age such that the young-old and the old-old demonstrated the strongest relationships. Associations between grip strength and all cognitive domains significantly strengthened with increased age. Discussion Results suggest that depending on the sample age, there may be inconsistencies in the relationships between physical and cognitive performance. Future research should explore these relationships longitudinally to better elucidate discrepant findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Briana N Sprague & Christine B Phillips & Lesley A Ross, 2019. "Age-Varying Relationships Between Physical Function and Cognition in Older Adulthood," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 74(5), pages 772-784.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:74:y:2019:i:5:p:772-784.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbx126
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Briana N. Sprague & Lesley A. Ross & Karlene K. Ball, 2023. "Does Cognitive Training Reduce Falls across Ten Years?: Data from the ACTIVE Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-11, March.
    2. Chenwei Pan & Huijuan Zhao & Qiaoling Du & Yong Xu & Dajun Tian & Shuo Xiao & Haiyin Wang & Xiao Wei & Chunfeng Wu & Yuanyuan Ruan & Chunhua Zhao & Gonghua Tao & Weiwei Zheng, 2022. "Path Analysis Reveals the Direct Effect of PCB28 Exposure on Cognitive Dysfunction in Older Chinese Females," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-13, June.

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