Relationship Between Physical Activity and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Community-Dwelling Elderly Adults Sampled Randomly From a Cohort
- VernacularTitle:コホート内から抽出した地域在住高齢者の身体活動量と軽度認知障害との関連
- Author:
Atsushi ODAGAWA
1
;
Toshiki KATSURA
2
;
Akiko HOSHINO
3
;
Miho SHIZAWA
2
;
Kanae USUI
3
Author Information
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2020;68(6):781-
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
- Abstract: The increase in dementia is becoming a serious health-related issue in Japan. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has indicated that the most effective method for preventing dementia is to detect and manage mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Accordingly, this study focused on “low physical activity”, which is a risk factor for dementia, and aimed to clarify the correlation between physical activity and MCI by analyzing the amount of physical activity among community-dwelling elderly adults sampled randomly from a cohort. A door-to-door survey was conducted of 26 physically housebound elderly adults and 26 physically nonhousebound elderly adults matched for sex, age, and living quarters who were randomly sampled from a 2013 cohort. Housebound status was assessed using a basic checklist. The survey was conducted at the participants’ homes. Components of the survey included basic attributes, basic checklists, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J), Kohs Block Design Test (Kohs), Revised Hasegawa’s Dementia Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale─Short Version-Japanese, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, and grip strength. The chi-squared or Mann─Whitney U test was used for comparisons between the elderly adults with low physical activity and those with high physical activity. The chi-squared test was used to compare the relationships between physical activity and MCI assessments (MoCA-J, Kohs). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows, with significance established at p < 0.05. Physically inactive elderly adults were engaged in significantly physical activities and had significantly more inactive periods compared with physically active elderly adults. The inactive elderly adults did not fulfill the level of physical activity needed to maintain fitness. In addition, a significantly higher percentage of inactive elderly adults had MCI compared with active elderly adults according to MoCA-J score. When MCI was assessed using the Kohs, on the other hand, there was no significant difference between the active and inactive elderly adults. Inactive elderly adults were not able to fulfill the level of physical activity necessary to maintain fitness and prevent MCI. There is a need to urgently consider ways to identify inactive community-dwelling elderly adults and to detect and manage MCI at an early stage.
