Physical function domain associations with cognitive domains in community-dwelling older adults
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Objectives
Physical and cognitive aging do not occur uniformly, yet associations between specific physical function and cognitive domains in sedentary older adults remain unclear. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined associations between multiple physical function domains and cognitive outcomes in sedentary, community-dwelling, cognitively unimpaired older adults.
Methods
Fifty-eight older adults (70.7±4.7 years; 84.5% Female) completed handgrip strength, 30-second chair stand, timed up and go (TUG), brisk walk, and 6-minute walk (6MWT) assessment. Cognitive outcomes included global cognition using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and working memory, episodic memory, attentional inhibition, and cognitive flexibility using the NIH Toolbox. Linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, body mass index, and brachial pulse pressure. False discovery rate (FDR) correction was applied.
Results
Greater 6MWT distance was associated with better episodic memory performance after FDR correction ( β =0.49, p a =0.028). Additional inverse associations were observed between TUG performance and global cognition ( β =-0.34, p a =0.166) and attentional inhibition ( β =-0.32, p a =0.180), and between gait speed and global cognition ( β =-0.33, p a =0.166) and episodic memory performance ( β =-0.32, p a =0.166), however, these did not survive FDR correction. Handgrip strength and chair stand performance were not associated with cognitive outcomes.
Conclusions
These exploratory findings suggest that locomotor-based functional tasks may demonstrate stronger cognitive associations than strength measures in sedentary, cognitively unimpaired older adults. Tasks involving sustained locomotion and adaptive movement may place greater cognitive-motor demands, potentially increasing sensitivity to subtle cognitive variation. Larger longitudinal and multimodal studies are needed to determine whether these associations reflect reliable differential patterns across physical and cognitive domains.
Statement of Research Significance
Research Question(s) or Topic(s)
Physical abilities, such as strength, walking, and endurance, and cognitive abilities, such as memory, and attention, often decline as people get older. We examined whether different physical abilities were related to different cognitive abilities in older adults who were physically inactive but not cognitive impaired.
Main Findings
Older adults with better walking endurance performed better on a memory test. Walking and mobility measures also showed preliminary relationships with overall cognitive ability and attention, while measures of upper- and lower-body strength were not related to cognitive abilities. However, these relationships need to be confirmed in future studies.
Study Contributions
Our findings suggest that not all physical and cognitive abilities are related in the same way. Walking endurance and mobility may provide information about memory in older adults for future research to identify people at risk for cognitive decline and develop more effective physical activity programs.
