Are clusters of physical activity, diet and sedentary behavior associated with mental health in Brazilian older adults?

Abstract

This study described the clustering of physical activity (PA), diet quality and sedentary behavior (SB), and examined the associations between these clusters and depressive symptoms and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Brazilian older adults. The sample consisted of 1,261 subjects (≥60 years; 63% women) of EpiFloripa Aging Study (2017-2019). Depressive symptoms e MCI were screened by the Geriatric Depression Scale and Mini Mental State Examination, respectively. Weekly frequency of moderate-to-vigorous PA, diet and time spent on SB, were assessed by questionnaires. Two-step cluster analysis was used to identify patterns of behavior, and binary logistic regression was used to test the association between variables. Four clusters were identified: inactive/poor diet; inactive/healthy diet; sedentary/healthy diet and more active/healthy diet. Older adults with a "more active/healthy diet" profile were less likely to have mild cognitive impairment (OR: 0.48; 95%CI: 0.24-0.97) and depressive symptoms (OR: 0.36; 95%CI: 0.16-0.78) compared to the "inactive/poor diet" cluster. The analytical and conceptual cluster model suggested a beneficial association between the "more active/healthy diet" profile and mental health.