Jieting Zhang1, Liye Zou1,2, Can Jiao1, Minqiang Zhang3,4,5, Lina Wang1, Wook Song6,7, Qian Yu2, Igor Grabovac8, Yanjie Zhang6,9, Peter Willeit10,11, Lin Yang12,13. 1. Institute of Mental Health, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. 2. Exercise and Mental Health Laboratory, School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China. 3. Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. 4. School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China. 5. Guangdong Psychological Association, Guangzhou 510631, China. 6. Health & Exercise Science Laboratory, Institute of Sports Science, Department of Kinesiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. 7. Institute on Aging, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. 8. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Kinderspitalgasse 15/1, 1090 Vienna, Austria. 9. Physical Education Unit, School of Humanities and Social Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518172, China. 10. Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. 11. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK. 12. Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB T2S 3C3, Canada. 13. Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The present study includes two aims: (1) to understand patterns of activity engagement among older Chinese adults; (2) to further investigate associations between activity engagement and cognitive abilities in this population. METHODS: Latent class analysis was applied to answer the aforementioned research questions across different age ranges while controlling for confounding variables (age, health, socioeconomic status (SES), and living alone). Specifically, five latent classes (non-active, working-active, comprehensive-active, physical-active, and less-active) were identified. Furthermore, associations between the classes of activity engagement and cognition were examined separately in three age groups: less than 80 years (young-old group), 80-99.5 years (old-old group) and more than 100 years (oldest-old group) of age. RESULTS: Compared with Non-active older individuals, the other classes with a higher probability of engagement in various activities generally showed higher cognitive abilities (including general cognition, orientation, calculation, recall, and language), but not all patterns of active engagement in daily life were positively associated with better cognitive status across different age ranges. In particular, differences in the individuals' cognitive abilities across the four active latent classes were especially obvious in the old-old group as follows: the Comprehensive-active class had higher general cognitive and recall abilities than the other three active classes and higher calculation and language abilities than the Working-active class. In addition, significant sex differences were observed in activity patterns, cognition, and their associations in the young-old and old-old groups. Culture-specific programs should be customized to subgroups of different ages and genders by providing different training or activity modules based on their related dimensions of cognitive decline.
OBJECTIVE: The present study includes two aims: (1) to understand patterns of activity engagement among older Chinese adults; (2) to further investigate associations between activity engagement and cognitive abilities in this population. METHODS: Latent class analysis was applied to answer the aforementioned research questions across different age ranges while controlling for confounding variables (age, health, socioeconomic status (SES), and living alone). Specifically, five latent classes (non-active, working-active, comprehensive-active, physical-active, and less-active) were identified. Furthermore, associations between the classes of activity engagement and cognition were examined separately in three age groups: less than 80 years (young-old group), 80-99.5 years (old-old group) and more than 100 years (oldest-old group) of age. RESULTS: Compared with Non-active older individuals, the other classes with a higher probability of engagement in various activities generally showed higher cognitive abilities (including general cognition, orientation, calculation, recall, and language), but not all patterns of active engagement in daily life were positively associated with better cognitive status across different age ranges. In particular, differences in the individuals' cognitive abilities across the four active latent classes were especially obvious in the old-old group as follows: the Comprehensive-active class had higher general cognitive and recall abilities than the other three active classes and higher calculation and language abilities than the Working-active class. In addition, significant sex differences were observed in activity patterns, cognition, and their associations in the young-old and old-old groups. Culture-specific programs should be customized to subgroups of different ages and genders by providing different training or activity modules based on their related dimensions of cognitive decline.
Authors: Karen C Schliep; William A Barbeau; Kristine E Lynch; Michelle K Sorweid; Michael W Varner; Norman L Foster; Fares Qeadan Journal: Biol Sex Differ Date: 2022-04-12 Impact factor: 5.027