Dose-Response Association Between Physical Activity (Daily MIMS, Peak 30-Minute MIMS) and Cognitive Function Among Older Adults: NHANES 2011-2014

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the dose-response association between habitual physical activity (PA) and cognitive function using a nationally representative data set of U.S. older adults aged >= 60 years. Methods We used data from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n = 2 441, mean [SE] age: 69.1 [0.2] years, 54.7% females). Cognitive function was assessed using the digit symbol substitution test (DSST) and animal fluency test (AFT). Habitual PA was collected using a triaxial accelerometer worn on participants' nondominant wrist. PA was expressed as 2 metrics using monitor-independent movement summary (MIMS) units: the average of Daily MIMS (MIMS/day) and peak 30-minute MIMS (Peak-30(MIMS); the average of the highest 30 MIMS min/d). Sample weight-adjusted multivariable linear regression was performed to determine the relationship between each cognitive score and MIMS metric while adjusting for covariates. Results After controlling for covariates, for each 1 000-unit increase in Daily MIMS, DSST score increased (beta-coefficient [95% CIs]) by 0.67 (0.40, 0.93), whereas AFT score increased by 0.13 (0.04, 0.22); for each 1-unit increase in Peak-30(MIMS), DSST score increased by 0.56 (0.42, 0.70), whereas AFT score increased by 0.10 (0.05, 0.15), all p < .001. When including both MIMS metrics in a single model, the association between Peak-30(MIMS) and cognitive scores remained significant (p < .01), whereas Daily MIMS did not. Conclusions Our findings suggest that higher PA (both daily accumulated and peak effort) is associated with better cognitive function in the U.S. older adult population.