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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Rachel CooperORCiD, Dr Daniel Davis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2020 The Author(s). Background: Age-related changes in cognitive and balance capabilities are well-established, as is their correlation with one another. Given limited evidence regarding the directionality of associations, we aimed to explore the direction and potential explanations of associations between word memory and one-legged balance performance in mid-later life. Methods: A total of 3062 participants in the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, a British birth cohort study, were included. One-legged balance times (eyes closed) were measured at ages 53, 60–64 and 69 years. Word memory was assessed at ages 43, 53, 60–64 and 69 with three 15-item word-recall trials. Autoregressive cross-lagged and dual change score models assessed bidirectional associations between word memory and balance. Random-effects models quantified the extent to which these associations were explained by adjustment for anthropometric, socioeconomic, behavioural and health status indicators. Results: Autoregressive cross-lagged and dual change score models suggested a unidirectional association between word memory and subsequent balance performance. In a sex-adjusted random-effects model, 1 standard deviation increase in word memory was associated with 9% (7,12%) higher balance performance at age 53. This association decreased with age (−0.4% /year (−0.6,-0.1%). Education partially attenuated the association, although it remained in the fully-adjusted model (3% (0.1,6%)). Conclusions: There was consistent evidence that word memory is associated with subsequent balance performance but no evidence of the reverse association. Cognitive processing plays an important role in the balance process, with educational attainment providing some contribution. These findings have important implications for understanding cognitive-motor associations and for interventions aimed at improving cognitive and physical capability in the ageing population.
Author(s): Blodgett JM, Cooper R, Davis DHJ, Kuh D, Hardy R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Experimental Gerontology
Year: 2021
Volume: 144
Print publication date: 01/02/2021
Online publication date: 16/12/2020
Acceptance date: 30/11/2020
Date deposited: 12/01/2022
ISSN (print): 0531-5565
ISSN (electronic): 1873-6815
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2020.111176
DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2020.111176
PubMed id: 33279666
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