Comparison of Work Ability Index and cognitive function tests

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging with regard to scores for certain cognitive function tests and WAI (Work Ability Index), and to examine the relationship between cognitive function test scores and work ability as measured by WAI. The subjects were 139 male employees of a factory producing steel plate, and their average age was 48.1 yr (SD 16.4). The WAI and cognitive function tests were conducted and valid scores were obtained from 134 subjects as to WAI, and from 88 subjects as to cognitive function tests. The subjects were divided into two groups: young workers (under 45 yr) and middle-aged to elderly workers (45 yr and over). The WAI scores of the two groups were compared, but no significant differences were observed. Nevertheless, for two WAI items, WAI-2 and WAI-7, the scores of the middle-aged to elderly worker group were significantly higher than those of the young worker group. In contrast, the scores for WAI-3 of the middle-aged to elderly group were significantly lower than those of the young worker group. The cognitive function test scores for the two groups were also compared. The scores for Working Memory test, Tracking test, and Sentence-to-sentence Comparison test of the middle-aged to elderly worker group were significantly lower than those of the younger group. Moreover, for the middle-aged to elderly worker group, the average WAI-3 scores for those with good cognitive function test results and those with poor cognitive function test results were compared, but there were no significant differences. This result shows that deterioration of physical function caused by aging is not related to deterioration of cognitive function caused by aging in the subjects of this study. The reason for this may be that the subjects are blue-collar workers, and thus cognitive functions are less important for their work.