Date Presented 04/20/2023
The major points of this abstract is a long-term and cumulative influence of lifestyle on cognitive function of older adults. This topic will advance the academic and practical concepts of cognitive intervention as an age-specific approach.
Primary Author and Speaker: Seungju Lim
Contributing Authors: Ji-Hyuk Park
PURPOSE: To examine trajectories of cognitive decline of older adults in South Korea through a large representative sample. Also, to analyze lifestyle factors that influence on cognitive decline and whether these differed by age groups.
METHOD: Latent growth curve modelling and multi-group analysis were conducted to explore the age-specific changes of cognitive function in 10-year period and the lifestyle influences on them among 6,189 participants(2,346 young-old, 2,407 middle-old, and 1,436 old-old). The Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA) was used for this secondary data analysis, using Mplus 8.0 with Full Information Maximum Likelihood(FIML). The cognitive function was measured by Korean version of the Mini Mental State Examination(K-MMSE) and lifestyle was measure by physical activity(regulated exercise status and regular exercise period), activity participation(number of activities participating and frequency of participation in activities) and health-related behavior(smoking and drinking status).
RESULTS: This study found that older koreans reported an average K-MMSE score of 24 at baseline and experienced cognitive decline every years by −0.195(p<0.001). There are significant differences between age groups, both the lowest level of cognitive function at baseline and the most sharp decline rate was found in old-old age trajectory. After adjustment, the long-period of regular exercising predicted slower rates of cognitive decline in young-old(β=0.234) and old-old trajectories(β=0.437), and the status of regular exercising predicted slower rates of cognitive decline in middle-old trajectory(β=0.946). The frequent of participating in activities were associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in all trajectories of three age groups(β=0.145; β=0.134; β=0.180).
CONCLUSION: As the influence of lifestyle factors were differed by age groups, age-specific approaches are recommended in occupational therapy for cognitive health promotion.
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