Change in hand dexterity and habitual gait speed reflects cognitive decline over time in healthy older adults: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Abstract. [Purpose] There is a relationship between physical and cognitive functions; therefore, impairment of physical function would mean cognitive decline. This study aimed to investigate the association between change in physical and cognitive functions. [Subjects and Methods] Participants were 169 healthy community-dwelling older adults who attend the survey after three years from baseline (mean age, 72.4 ± 4.8 years). Grip strength, one-leg standing balance, five-times-sit-to-stand test, timed up and go, 5-m habitual walk, and a peg-moving task were used to evaluate physical performance. Five cognitive function tests were used to assess attention, memory, visuospatial function, verbal fluency, and reasoning. Cognitive function was defined as the cumulative score of these tests.[Results] At baseline, five-times-sit-to-stand test, timed up and go, and hand dexterity were independently associated with cognitive function. In longitudinal analyses, changes in habitual walking speed and hand dexterity were significantly associated with change in cognitive function.[Conclusion] Deterioration of specific physical function, such as hand dexterity and walking ability, may be associated with progression of cognitive decline. Decreasing extent of daily functions, such as hand dexterity and walking ability, can be useful indices to grasp changes in cognitive function.

Reference Values and Correlations for Multiple Physical Performance Measures: A Cross-Sectional Study among Independently Mobile Older Men in Japan

“…However, we did not find significant correlations between MMSE and most of the examined physical performance measurements. This is in contrast to the many studies that have reported significant correlations between cognitive function and aspects of physical performance, such as HGS [12,13], QS [7], and walking speed [5,26]. These conflicting results may be explained by the fact that these previous studies included participants with various degrees of physical performance ability, whereas the present study evaluated only participants who were able to walk independently and therefore had a relatively high level of physical performance.…”

“…The most important contribution of this study was the simultaneous evaluation of seven physical performance measures among Japanese men aged 80 years or older who were able to walk independently, revealing the reference values for these measures in this study population. Following previous studies, we also evaluated the correlations between cognitive function and physical performance [5,7,8,[11][12][13] and between age and physical performance [6,[9][10][11]. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to examine correlations among multiple physical performance measures, finding various levels of correlation.…”

“…However, only a few reports [5,6] have conducted simultaneous evaluations of multiple physical performance measures and tested the correlations among these measures. Previous studies have included one or two physical performance measures, and these were usually conducted among community-dwelling older adult men and women of various ages (i.e., in their 60s, 70s, or 80s and older) and with different levels of walking ability [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…Previous studies have included one or two physical performance measures, and these were usually conducted among community-dwelling older adult men and women of various ages (i.e., in their 60s, 70s, or 80s and older) and with different levels of walking ability [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Most of these studies have evaluated the correlations between cognitive function [5,7,8,[11][12][13] or age [6,[9][10][11] and measures of physical performance; few studies [16] have reported the correlations among performance measures for older adults. Measuring multiple types of physical performance simultaneously and examining the correlations among these measures will allow us to evaluate the characteristics of these measures and the links among them in a more detailed and objective way, compared with existing work.…”

“…Therefore, this study aims (1) to establish reference values for multiple physical performance measures that have been reported to be related to the level of ambulation and the risk of falling among men aged 80 years or older who are able to walk independently, and (2) to assess the correlations among seven measures of physical performance, as well as these measures' correlations with age and cognitive function, which have been examined in previous studies [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In terms of the clinical significance of this work, older adults aged under 80 years may be able to use the reference values established in this study as targets, facilitating the maintenance of independent walking as they age.…”