Differential Longitudinal Associations Between Domains of Cognitive Function and Physical Function: A 20-Year Follow-Up Study.

Sala, Giovanni ORCID: 0000-0002-1589-3759, Nishita, Yukiko, Tange, Chikako, Zhang, Shu ORCID: 0000-0002-1208-5836, Ando, Fujiko, Shimokata, Hiroshi, Otsuka, Rei and Arai, Hidenori (2024) Differential Longitudinal Associations Between Domains of Cognitive Function and Physical Function: A 20-Year Follow-Up Study. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 79 (1). gbad156-.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbad156

Abstract

<h4>Objectives</h4>Cognitive and physical functions are both associated with disability and death. Recent studies have addressed the relationship between cognitive declines and physical declines; however, whether various facets of cognition are diversely associated with specific physical functions is yet to be ascertained. The present work examines the longitudinal associations between fluid and crystallized cognitive functions (Gf and Gc) and physical functions.<h4>Methods</h4>The sample consisted of 863 community-dwelling older adults (baseline age 60-79 years) from the National Institute for Longevity Sciences-Longitudinal Study of Aging. The participants were tested on a set of Gf and Gc tests and physical tests (grip strength and gait speed). We ran a series of Multivariate Latent Growth Curve models. Specifically, we tested the relationship between cognitive and physical functions in terms of baseline performance (intercept) and rate of change (slope).<h4>Results</h4>The slope-slope correlations between Gf and physical function were large (grip strength r = 0.64 and gait speed r = 0.68, ps < .001). By contrast, the slope correlations between Gc and physical functions were weak (rs ≤ 0.31) and barely or marginally significant (ps ≤ .06).<h4>Discussion</h4>The results show that distinct domains of cognitive functions have different associations with physical functions. Namely, the aging-associated declines in the tested physical functions are robustly correlated with the declines in Gf, but are only weakly correlated with the declines in Gc. Therefore, Gc measures may be poor proxies for the patient's frailty and should be considered with caution in clinical assessment.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Follow-Up Studies, Cognition, Aging, Aged, Cognitive Dysfunction, Walking Speed, Frailty
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Dec 2023 10:14
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2024 14:54
DOI:	10.1093/geronb/gbad156
Open Access URL:	https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/advan...
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3177627