Balance and strength measures are associated with incident dementia in older men
Publication Details
Paterson, J.,
Trevenen, M.,
Hill, K.,
Almeida, O. P.,
Yeap, B.,
Golledge, J.,
Hankey, G.,
&
Flicker, L.
(2024).
Balance and strength measures are associated with incident dementia in older men.
Aging and Health Research, 4 (3).
Abstract
Background: As people age the risk of dementia increases. Balance and strength deteriorate with ageing, but their associations with dementia are not clear. We aimed to determine relationships of balance and strength performance with incident dementia in the Health in Men Study (HIMS) cohort.
Methods: We used wave 4 of the HIMS as baseline for analyses (2011–2013), following 1261 men until December 2017 via data linkage to determine incident dementia. Balance was measured using a modified Balance Outcome Measure for Elder Rehabilitation (mBOOMER) Score and strength with the knee extension test. Cox proportional hazards regression was used, adjusting for sociodemographic and health data. Strength and balance scores were analysed non-linearly using restricted cubic splines.
Results: 13.7% of men were diagnosed with dementia over a mean period of 4.7 (SD 1.5) years. Higher baseline mBOOMER scores were associated with a reduced risk of incident dementia, with greater changes in risk at higher mBOOMER scores (9 vs 8: HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.73–0.88; 12 vs 11: 0.49, 95% HR 0.36–0.68). Higher baseline lower limb strength was associated with a reduced risk of incident dementia, with greater changes occurring at lower scores, plateauing at around 25 kg (5 vs 4: HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89–0.98; 25 vs 24: HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95–1.03).
Conclusions: This study demonstrated a non-linear association of better performance in both strength and balance with reduced likelihood of incident dementia. These results raise the hypoth
Keywords
physical performance, dementia, cognitive impairment, balance, strength
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