| Abstract: Identifying retained activity participation to old age can improve age-related changes
in balance and cognition function. Subjects 60 years were enrolled in this study. Balance and
Cognitive function include working memory, executive function, and sustained and divided attention
was evaluated with “Fullerton advanced balance”, “n-back”, “Wisconsin card sort”, “sustain and
divided attention test”, respectively. In addition, retained activity participation was measured using
the Activity Card Sort questionnaire. The univariate and multivariate regression analyses of different
domains of retained activity participation were used as independent variables, including instrumental
activity, low-effort leisure, high-effort leisure, and social activity on balance and specific domains
of cognition. Seventy-seven subjects (65.3 4.4 years, 61% female) were included. About 47%
of older adults had a college education, 32.3% had a diploma, and 20.7% had elementary–middle
education. These results show that retained instrumental activity had a relationship with working
memory (b = 0.079, p < 0.05). In addition, we found that retained high-effort leisure activity can
increase balance, divided attention, and executive function score (b = 0.1, b = 0.05, b = 0.02, p < 0.05).
Moreover, there was a positive relationship between retained low-effort activity and sustained
attention (b = 0.08, p < 0.05). In addition, the coefficient of determination (R2) for balance, working
memory, executive function, sustained, and divided attention were 0.45, 0.25, 0.13, 0.11 and 0.18,
respectively. The study suggests that retained activity participation types may have various effects
on balance and some selective cognitive components in older people. |