Sex differences in the associations of accelerometer-determined physical activity with physical and cognitive function in older adults living in long-term care

Ziwei Zeng; Chun Liang Hsu; Kimberley Stefanie van Schooten; Yijian Yang

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1446286

Sex differences in the associations of accelerometer-determined physical activity with physical and cognitive function in older adults living in long-term care

Front Public Health. 2024 Nov 11:12:1446286. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1446286. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ziwei Zeng¹, Chun Liang Hsu², Kimberley Stefanie van Schooten³, Yijian Yang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³ Neuroscience Research Australia, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Aging, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

Older adults residing in long-term care often experience declines in physical and cognitive functions despite the access to in-house physical activity (PA) programs. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of PA with physical function and global cognitive function in older adults living in long-term care, while examining potential sex differences. A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from a two-arm cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted, involving 67 participants (34 men, 33 women). PA levels were assessed using tri-axial accelerometers. Physical function, including muscular strength, postural sway, and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and cognitive function were measured. Spearman correlation analysis revealed no significant associations between PA metrics and muscular strength, postural sway, or global cognitive function across the entire samples (p ≥ 0.091). Multiple linear regression models were developed for the entire sample, males, and females to examine the associations between PA and physical function measures and global cognitive function. After adjustments for confounders, light PA was significantly associated with higher SPPB sub-scores (gait: β = 0.600, p < 0.001; sit-to-stand: β = 0.574, p < 0.001), faster usual gait speed (β = 0.659, p = 0.012), and shorter sit-to-stand times (β = -0.305, p = 0.041) across the whole sample. Similar significant associations were observed in males between light PA and SPPB scores (total: β = 0.319, p = 0.040; gait: β = 0.532, p < 0.001; sit-to-stand: β = 0.417, p = 0.009), usual gait speed (β = 0.762, p = 0.017), and sit-to-stand times (β = -0.677, p < 0.001). In females, a significant association was found between light PA and global cognitive function (β = 0.319, p = 0.012) after adjusting for confounders. This study highlights sex differences in the association of accelerometer-determined PA with physical and cognitive function in older adults living in long-term care, with LPA showing beneficial effects, especially for physical function in males and for cognitive function in females.

Keywords: cognition; long-term care; older adult; physical activity; sex.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Accelerometry*
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cognition* / physiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise*
Female
Humans
Long-Term Care*
Male
Muscle Strength / physiology
Sex Factors

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (RGC-HK, grant number: CUHK 24618722). The funding source had no role in the design, methods, subject recruitment, data collections, analysis, and preparation of this article.