Activity variability: A novel physical activity metric and its association with cognitive impairment

IF 4.9 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Alzheimer''s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions Pub Date : 2025-04-10 DOI:10.1002/trc2.70079

Patrick T. Donahue, Jennifer A. Schrack, Johannes Thrul, Michelle C. Carlson

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Evidence suggests that engaging in a high volume of daily or weekly physical activity may reduce the risk of cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). However, activity variability and its associations with cognition are underexplored. We examined whether activity variability, measured at the minute level, may capture movement patterns that provide insight into cognitive impairment risk.

METHODS

Using a cross-sectional sample of 711 older adults (mean [standard deviation] age = 79.1 [6.0] years]) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study in 2021, we calculated a novel metric of activity variability, defined as the standard deviation of minute-to-minute changes in accelerometer activity counts across the 7 day wear period. We investigated associations between activity variability and other activity metrics with cognitive impairment using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Lower activity variability was associated with increased odds of cognitive impairment (odds ratio [OR] = 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.26–3.97]), even after accounting for total activity counts and other covariates. In receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, activity variability was the strongest predictor of prevalent cognitive impairment compared to other activity metrics (area under the curve = 0.787; 95% CI [0.742–0.832]).

DISCUSSION

Activity variability, measured at the minute level, may capture complexity of daily activities and may serve as a novel indicator of cognitive health. Low activity variability may signal underlying neurological processes that contribute to ADRD risk. Further investigation into potential biological mechanisms that may explain the observed associations between activity variability and cognition is warranted.

Highlights

We created a novel metric using variability of minute-level changes in activity counts.
Low activity variability was associated with a greater prevalence of cognitive impairment.
Activity variability outperformed other activity metrics in area under the receiver operating characteristic curve analyses.
Future work should examine underlying neurological mechanisms.

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来源期刊

Alzheimer''s and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions Medicine-Psychiatry and Mental Health

CiteScore

10.10

自引率

2.10%

发文量

134

审稿时长

10 weeks

期刊介绍： Alzheimer''s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions (TRCI) is a peer-reviewed, open access,journal from the Alzheimer''s Association®. The journal seeks to bridge the full scope of explorations between basic research on drug discovery and clinical studies, validating putative therapies for aging-related chronic brain conditions that affect cognition, motor functions, and other behavioral or clinical symptoms associated with all forms dementia and Alzheimer''s disease. The journal will publish findings from diverse domains of research and disciplines to accelerate the conversion of abstract facts into practical knowledge: specifically, to translate what is learned at the bench into bedside applications. The journal seeks to publish articles that go beyond a singular emphasis on either basic drug discovery research or clinical research. Rather, an important theme of articles will be the linkages between and among the various discrete steps in the complex continuum of therapy development. For rapid communication among a multidisciplinary research audience involving the range of therapeutic interventions, TRCI will consider only original contributions that include feature length research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, brief reports, narrative reviews, commentaries, letters, perspectives, and research news that would advance wide range of interventions to ameliorate symptoms or alter the progression of chronic neurocognitive disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer''s disease. The journal will publish on topics related to medicine, geriatrics, neuroscience, neurophysiology, neurology, psychiatry, clinical psychology, bioinformatics, pharmaco-genetics, regulatory issues, health economics, pharmacoeconomics, and public health policy as these apply to preclinical and clinical research on therapeutics.