Physical Activity and its Influencing Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Dementia: A Path Analysis

Physical activity trajectories and their associations with health outcomes in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia: a national cohort study

BACKGROUND

Physical activity (PA) is a promising non-pharmacological intervention for this population. However, few studies have investigated their PA trajectories, influencing factors, and their relationship with health outcomes.

AIMS

The aim was to identify latent trajectories in PA and their determinants in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, as well as to assess the associations between PA trajectories and health outcomes based on the capability-opportunity-motivation behavior model.

METHODS

This is a cohort study. Data were obtained from a national cohort study and included participants aged 60 years and older with MCI or dementia. PA trajectories were identified using group-based trajectory modelling. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to identify the predictors of PA trajectories. Linear regression models were used to assess the associations between PA trajectories and health outcomes. This study adhered to the STROBE checklist for reporting.

RESULTS

Three distinct PA trajectories were identified: high-decreasing and rebound class (9.34%), moderate-decreasing class (10.31%), and low-increasing class (80.34%). The logistic regression showed that age, sex, education level, body mass index, residence, depressive symptoms, mobility activities of daily life score, frequency of social activities score were PA predictors. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables, only the high-decreasing and rebound class remained significantly associated with worse self-rated health.

DISCUSSION

This study revealed three PA trajectories among older adults with MCI/dementia. Besides sociodemographic variables, addressing physical function and mental health, providing social support are vital for promoting PA in this population.

Barriers and motivators to promotion of physical activity participation for older adults with mild cognitive impairment or dementia: An umbrella review

BACKGROUND

Due to the growing aging population worldwide, cognitive disorders including mild cognitive impairment and dementia is considered a major public health priority. Currently, physical activity is a promising non-drug therapy, however, people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia are more likely to be physically inactive.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the barriers and motivators affecting participation in physical activity in older people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia.

DESIGN

An umbrella review.

METHODS

The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for umbrella reviews was adopted in this study. We searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of science, CINAHL, Cochrane, Scopus and Proquest to identify relevant articles published in English from inception to October 2022. Two researchers independently screened and selected articles against preselected inclusion criteria. Eligible studies were appraised for methodological quality using the combined Meta Quality Appraisal Tool and Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews Tool. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation- Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research tool was employed to determine the confidence level in the evidence of the extracted factors. Theoretical Domain Framework (TDF) was used to map barriers and motivators to physical activity participation. Behavior change techniques (BCTs) was utilized to develop theoretically-informed implementation strategies.

RESULTS

Fourteen relevant reviews (covered over 219 primary studies) were included in this review. A total of 31 factors were identified from the selected reviews. Three factors with the strongest supporting evidence for their influence on participation were: resources/material resources, social support, and perceived competence. According to the behavior change techniques, six implementation strategies (providing supervision, developing tailored interventions, providing safe and promoting environment, helping to increase participants' motivation and adherence, integrating all kinds of social support, and providing suitable staffing) were developed.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence presented in this umbrella review suggests that a multilevel stakeholder approach and a system-wide viewpoint should be adopted. Through the Theoretical Domain Framework, we not only identified construct factors for future interventions, but also revealed understudied fields in this research areas. This umbrella review generates data that is expected to inform the development of implementation strategies based on the intervention-mapping approach, which will promote participation in physical activity.

REGISTRATION

This study was registered with the PROSPERO (CRD42022371535).