Abstract
Wearable devices for remote and continuous health monitoring in older populations frequently include sensors for body temperature measurements (i.e., skin and core body temperatures). Healthy aging is associated with core body temperatures that are in the lower range of age-related normal values (36.3 ± 0.6°C, oral temperature), while patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibit core body temperatures above normal values (up to 0.2°C). However, the relation of body temperature measures with neurocognitive health in older adults remains unknown. This study aimed to explore the association of body temperature with cognitive performance in older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Eighty community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) participated, of which 54 participants were cognitively healthy and 26 participants met the criteria for MCI. Skin temperatures at the rib cage and the scapula were measured in the laboratory (single-point measurement) and neuropsychological tests were conducted to assess general cognitive performance, episodic memory, verbal fluency, executive function, and processing speed. In a subgroup (n = 15, nine healthy, six MCI), skin and core body temperatures were measured continuously during 12 h of habitual daily activities (long-term measurement). Spearman’s partial correlation analyses, controlled for age, revealed that lower median body temperature and higher peak-to-peak body temperature amplitude was associated with better general cognitive performance and with better performance in specific domains of cognition; [e.g., rib median skin temperature (single-point) vs. processing speed: rs = 0.33, p = 0.002; rib median skin temperature (long-term) vs. executive function: rs = 0.56, p = 0.023; and peak-to-peak core body temperature amplitude (long-term) vs. episodic memory: rs = 0.51, p = 0.032]. Additionally, cognitively healthy older adults showed lower median body temperature and higher peak-to-peak body temperature amplitude compared to older adults with MCI (e.g., rib median skin temperature, single-point: p = 0.035, r = 0.20). We conclude that both skin and core body temperature measures are potential early biomarkers of cognitive decline and preclinical symptoms of MCI/AD. It may therefore be promising to integrate body temperature measures into multi-parameter systems for the remote and continuous monitoring of neurocognitive health in older adults.
Highlights
The aging population is steadily growing worldwide and age-related health issues and healthcare costs are concomitantly increasing
The following values were missing due to measurement error in the data set from the 12-h continuous measurements of the analyzed 15 participants: all skin temperature values from one participant and the p–p amplitude values in Tsrib and Tsscapula from one other participant
The two main findings were: (1) that better cognitive performance correlates with lower median skin temperature measured in the laboratory, as well as with lower median skin and core body temperature measured during 12 h of habitual daily activities and with higher long-term body temperature p–p amplitudes; and (2) that cognitively healthy older adults exhibit lower median skin and core body temperature values, as well as higher body temperature p–p amplitudes compared to their peers with mild cognitive impairments (MCI)
Summary
The aging population is steadily growing worldwide and age-related health issues and healthcare costs are concomitantly increasing. Remote and continuous health monitoring could allow detecting symptoms of illness and functional decline at the earliest possible stage This facilitates the early implementation of preventive or therapeutic measures and potentially improves therapeutic efficacy (Pantelopoulos and Bourbakis, 2010). Recent advances in non-invasive sensor technologies and the mounting availability of wearable monitoring devices render the application of remote and continuous health monitoring increasingly feasible (Wang et al, 2017). It needs to be considered, that the accuracy of many of these devices has not yet been adequately validated (Dunn et al, 2018). Body temperature may provide valuable information to monitor long-term overall health and neurocognitive health in older adults as subsequently described
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