Abstract
BackgroundPhysical fitness declines with age. Low levels of physical fitness appear to be a risk factor of cognitive impairment. Literature elucidates social networking as a potential moderator for the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive impairment. Present study aimed to examine the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function among community-dwelling older Malaysians, and if social network moderates said relationship.MethodsData of 2322 representative community-dwelling older adults were obtained from the first wave of the “Longitudinal Study on Neuroprotective Model for Healthy Longevity” national survey. Cognitive function, physical fitness and social network was assessed through Malay-version of Mini-Mental State Examination, 2-min step test and Lubben Social Network Scale-6 respectively. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression was employed to investigate if social networks moderate the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function.ResultsA positive association between physical fitness and cognitive function were found upon controlling for covariates. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression revealed social networks to be a moderator of the association between physical fitness and cognitive function. When physical fitness was low, those with small social network revealed lowest cognitive function.ConclusionsSocial networks moderated the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function as older adults with low levels of physical fitness and small social networks revealed lowest cognitive function. Therefore, community support or peer-based interventions among physically unfit older adults should be implemented to promote cognitive function.
Highlights
The original study covered a wide range of variables; this paper only focused on cognitive function, physical fitness and social networks as per study interest
This study demonstrated that individuals with high levels of physical fitness reported high cognitive function despite small social network size
This study presents novel discovery on the moderating mechanism underpinning the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function among older adults
Summary
Low levels of physical fitness appear to be a risk factor of cognitive impairment. Literature elucidates social networking as a potential moderator for the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive impairment. Present study aimed to examine the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function among community-dwelling older Malaysians, and if social network moderates said relationship. In 2016, 6.0% (1.9 million) of Malaysians were older adults aged 65 and above [1]. Foong et al BMC Geriatrics (2021) 21:679 impairment among Malaysian community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and above to be 75.2% [4]. It has been established that physical fitness tends to decline with age. Physical fitness was found to promote cognitive function among older patients with mild cognitive impairment [7]
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