Preliminary Study of the Physical Fitness Test for Screening of Cognitive Impairment in the Korean Elderly

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of physical fitness measurement for cognitive dysfunction screening in elderly Koreans. The subjects of the study were 88 elderly people (16 males and 72 females) aged 60 years or older who visited the Gyeonggi-do public health center and hospital associated with the neurology department of a university hospital in Gyeonggi-do, agreed with the purpose of this study, and wished to participate. Physical fitness measurement variables were isometric muscle strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, agility and dynamic balance, and coordination, and cognitive function tests performed using K-RBANS(Korean-Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status) and CDR(clinical dementia rating), which were dementia screening tools. As a data processing method, correlation analysis was conducted to analyze the correlation between physical fitness and cognitive function. By conducting Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis, the diagnostic accuracy and optimal cut-off of each physical fitness test for cognitive impairment were defined as CDR 0.5. As a result of the study, the F8WT, TUG(Time Up & Go Test ), and T-wall tests showed a large area under the curve (AUC) that defined cognitive impairment (TUG=.768, 95%CI=.650~.885; F8WT=.735, 95%). CI=.612~.857, T-wall=.682, 95% CI=.545~.819). The optimal cut-off for predicting cognitive impairment was 6.0 seconds in TUG (sensitivity = 73.2%, specificity = 73.1%), 26.3 seconds in F8WT (sensitivity = 71.4%, specificity = 73.1%), and T-wall. 94.5 seconds (sensitivity = 62.5%, specificity = 65.4%). The F8WT, TUG, and T-wall test were confirmed as accurate and convenient measurement methods for screening cognitive dysfunction in elderly Koreans. In addition, the availability for screening cognitive dysfunction in the elderly population with various levels of education was confirmed.