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Association of fear of falling with cognitive function and physical activity in older community-dwelling adults

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Key summary points

AbstractSection Aim

To explore the association between fear of falling and physical activity independent of cognitive decline.

AbstractSection Findings

Older community-dwelling adults with high fear of falling were found to have had declined cognitive speed. Second, both moderate and high fear of falling were associated with moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity and step counts in older community-dwelling adults, with the high fear of falling group performing a less physical activity with moderate- and vigorous-intensity and fewer steps.

AbstractSection Message

Fear of falling may be associated with decreased physical activity in older adults.

Abstract

Purpose

This study addressed a two-part question. First, is cognitive decline associated with fear of falling (FoF)? Second, if this association is observed, is there also an association between FoF and physical activity (PA) independent of cognitive decline?

Methods

Participants in the study were community-dwelling Japanese residents between 65 and 85 years of age (N = 458, mean age = 72.4 ± 4.6, male = 53.7%). Step counts were recorded, as was objectively measured PA, divided into (1) low-intensity PA and (2) moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA. Three groups were determined based on FoF: low, moderate, and high. Neuropsychological tests were also conducted.

Results

Participants with high FoF had slower processing speed. low-intensity PA was associated with only high FoF, but after controlling for processing speed, the significance of this association was attenuated. Shorter time of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA was associated with high FoF, even in the full model controlling for other factors. All FoF levels were associated with lower step counts.

Conclusion

older community-dwelling adults with high FoF were found to have had declined cognitive speed/ Second, both moderate and high FoF were associated with moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA and step counts in older community-dwelling adults, with the high FoF group performing shorter time of moderate- and vigorous-intensity PA and fewer steps.

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Funding

The TOPICS study is supported by the Center of Innovation Program (COI STREAM), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Healthcare and Geriatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsuruma-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8550, Japan

    Hiroyuki Umegaki & Masafumi Kuzuya

  2. Liberal Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama Prefectural University, Toyama, Japan

    Kazuki Uemura

  3. Institute of Innovation for Future Society, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan

    Taeko Makino, Takahiro Hayashi, Xian Wu Cheng & Masafumi Kuzuya

  4. Department of Rehabilitation and Care, Seijoh University, Tokai, Japan

    Taeko Makino & Takahiro Hayashi

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki Umegaki
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  2. Kazuki Uemura
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  3. Taeko Makino
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  4. Takahiro Hayashi
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  5. Xian Wu Cheng
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  6. Masafumi Kuzuya
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroyuki Umegaki.

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Conflict of interest

The authors have reported no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The study protocol (Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, approval no. 2014-0155-2), which is registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) clinical trials registry (no. UMIN000014437), was approved by the Ethics Committee of our institute.

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Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their enrollment in this study.

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Umegaki, H., Uemura, K., Makino, T. et al. Association of fear of falling with cognitive function and physical activity in older community-dwelling adults. Eur Geriatr Med 12, 99–106 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-020-00410-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-020-00410-2

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