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Daily Movement Activities Are Associated With Within-Person Instability of Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Evidence From an Ambulatory Assessment Study
Yang CH, Hedeker D, Lee J, Prine H, Coffman D, Wei J, Hakun JG.. Innovation in aging, 2025-06-27
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background and objectives Physical inactivity and excessive sedentary time (ST) are associated with poor cognitive health in older adults. However, current literature largely relies on cross-sectional designs or in-lab cognitive assessments, which do not adequately reflect cognitive function in naturalistic settings. Further, existing studies have largely overlooked the variability or the instability in daily cognitive function, which represents a critical marker of cognitive decline. This ambulatory assessment study examined the temporal associations of daily movement behaviors with the mean levels and the variability of cognition among older adults at risk of dementia. Research design and methods 96 older adults from the community (68.3 ± 7.1 years) participated in this 14-day study. They wore an accelerometer and completed smartphone-based cognitive tests up to 4 times per day. The cognitive tests assessed both performance-based and subjective cognition. The movement behaviors collected from the accelerometers include daily light-intensity physical activity (LPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and ST. Mixed-effects location-scale models were applied to estimate the within- and between-person associations of movement behaviors and cognitive outcomes in terms of the mean levels and the degree of variability. A total of 1,269 day-level observations were analyzed. Results Older adults' between-person levels of daily MVPA and steps were associated with better mean cognitive performance and lower variability across cognitive measures. Older adults' daily LPA was positively associated with subjective cognition in both mean levels and variability. The increases in within-person levels of ST were negatively associated with older adults' variability of all cognitive outcomes. Discussion and implications Study results suggest that moving more and sitting less in day-to-day life may sustain proximal cognitive health. Applying ambulatory assessments can advance aging research by examining the temporal dynamics between daily movement activities and within-person variability of cognition to inform strategies for promoting healthy aging in daily life.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Yang, C. H., Hedeker, D., Lee, J., Prine, H., Coffman, D., Wei, J., et al. (2025). Daily Movement Activities Are Associated With Within-Person Instability of Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Evidence From an Ambulatory Assessment Study. Innovation in aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf059
Vancouver
Yang CH, Hedeker D, Lee J, Prine H, Coffman D, Wei J, et al. Daily Movement Activities Are Associated With Within-Person Instability of Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Evidence From an Ambulatory Assessment Study. Innovation in aging. 2025. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaf059. PMID: 40756472.
BibTeX
@article{yang2025-40756472,
author = {Yang, C. H. and Hedeker, D. and Lee, J. and Prine, H. and Coffman, D. and Wei, J. and Hakun, J. G.},
title = {{Daily Movement Activities Are Associated With Within-Person Instability of Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Evidence From an Ambulatory Assessment Study}},
journal = {Innovation in aging},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/geroni/igaf059},
pmid = {40756472},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf059}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Background and objectives Physical inactivity and excessive sedentary time (ST) are associated with poor cognitive health in older adults.
- Results Older adults' between-person levels of daily MVPA and steps were associated with better mean cognitive performance and lower variability across cognitive measures.
- Older adults' daily LPA was positively associated with subjective cognition in both mean levels and variability.
- The increases in within-person levels of ST were negatively associated with older adults' variability of all cognitive outcomes.
- Discussion and implications Study results suggest that moving more and sitting less in day-to-day life may sustain proximal cognitive health.
Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants1,269
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 62/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 62 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Innovation in aging) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,269 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40756472) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 36 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 62 out of 100. |
| Total | 62 / 100 | — |
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