Relationship between physical activity and cognitive functioning among older Indian adults

Abstract

In a culturally different and low-resource setting, where lifestyle habits, including dietary pattern and physical activities differ from those in high-income countries, the association between physical activity and cognition is expected to differ. We aimed to investigate the association between physical activity and cognitive functioning after controlling for potential confounders among older adults in India. Furthermore, gender differences in this relationship were analyzed. Using a national-level data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (2017–2018), this paper employed propensity score matching (PSM) approach to examine the association between physical activities and cognitive functioning among Indian older adults. Cognitive impairment was measured through five broad domains (memory, orientation, arithmetic function, executive function, and object naming). We limit our sample to older adults aged 60 + years, and our final dataset contains 31,464 participants (men = 16,366, and women = 15,098). The results indicated that older adults who engaged in frequent physical activity have greater cognitive functioning than older adults without physical activity after adjusting for various individual, health, lifestyle, and household factors. This association holds true for both older men and older women. The results from the PSM revealed that the cognitive function score was increased by 0.98 and 1.32 points for the frequently physically active older men and women population, respectively. The results demonstrate the possible beneficial effects of frequent physical activity on cognitive functioning among older adults. Thus, regular physical activity can be considered as an effective lifestyle factor to promote healthy cognitive aging.

Multivariate decomposition analysis of sex differences in functional difficulty among older adults based on Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, 2017–2018

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The role of religiosity and religious participation in the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment among older Indian adults

“…The following socio-demographic variables that were related to both late life mental health 47 and cognition 48 were included in the analysis. Age was categorized into groups of 60–69 years, 70–79 years, and 80+ years.…”

“…Prior research has identified several lifestyle behaviours that are likely to be associated with late life depression and cognitive functions such as physical activity 26 , 48 , tobacco use and alcohol consumption 49 , 50 . Physical activity was coded as inactive, only moderate, only vigorous and both moderate and vigorous activities 51 .…”

Childhood deprivations predict late-life cognitive impairment among older adults in India

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