P1-253: Life space and cognitive decline in old age

Abstract

The Life Space Questionnaire is a self–report measure that was designed to document the spatial extent of movement within the home and the outside community. Previous studies have shown that it is related to physical mobility and cognitive function. Little is known about the relation between life space and cognitive decline. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that a larger life space is associated with reduced cognitive decline in old age. Participants included more than 700 persons from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a clinical–pathologic study of common chronic conditions of old age. At baseline, a modified version of the Life Space Questionnaire was administered and participants were asked to indicate whether they had traveled beyond 6 specific zones within their environment in the past week. The possible zones ranged from beyond one's bedroom and outside one's home, to places within the immediate environment, and places outside of one's town or community. At annual intervals for up to 5 years, gait speed was assessed and a battery of 19 cognitive tests was administered from which previously established composite measures of 5 cognitive domains were derived. We used mixed–effects models to examine the relation between scores on the Life Space Questionnaire and rate of cognitive decline in specific domains of cognitive function. Scores on the Life Space Questionnaire ranged from 0 to 6 (mean = 5.3, SD = 1.2), with higher scores indicating a larger life space. A larger life space was associated with reduced cognitive decline during follow–up. In a model that controlled for baseline level of cognition, age, sex, education, and gait speed, a larger life space was associated with a reduced rate of decline in some cognitive domains and not others. The results suggest that a greater range of spatial movement through the outside world is associated with a reduced rate of cognitive decline in old age.