Physical Activity and Cognitive Function in African American Older Adults Living With HIV.
Nadia Winston, Barbara Swanson, Louis F Fogg and 3 others
PMID 34846255WHAT IT FOUND
Physical activity was not linked to cognitive function in 124 older African Americans living with HIV after accounting for age, sex, education, body mass index, and years with HIV.
Light activity showed a link to visuospatial ability only before accounting.
Key findings
01After accounting for age, sex, education, body mass index, and years living with HIV, light and moderate/vigorous physical activity were not linked to any cognitive domain.
02Before accounting for those factors, moderate/vigorous physical activity was not linked to any cognitive domain, while light physical activity was linked to better visuospatial ability.
03Participants reported mean weekly light physical activity of 290.6 minutes and moderate/vigorous physical activity of 314.67 minutes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The data were collected at one time point, so the study cannot show that physical activity caused better cognition. Physical activity was self-reported and may have been overestimated. The sample was African American older adults living in a city with high walkability and reliable public transportation, so results may not apply elsewhere. The participants were active clinic clients with well-managed HIV, which may have reduced the chance of seeing a protective effect of physical activity. Cognitive impairment diagnoses were not collected, so unrecognized impairment may have affected recall of physical activity.
Declared interests
The authors reported no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that physical activity improves cognition in older adults living with HIV. The analysis that took age, sex, education, body mass index, and years living with HIV into account found no significant links, and the design cannot show cause.