This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Older adults with obesity show poorer response to memory training
Older adults with obesity may not respond as well to memory training compared with adults without obesity, study data show.
“Obesity in middle age is associated with higher rates of many chronic diseases and is a substantial risk factor for dementia in late life,” Daniel O. Clark, PhD, of the Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis, and colleagues wrote in the study background. “Few studies have been able to explore whether change in cognitive function over time is associated with obesity, and perhaps no study has investigated whether obesity modifies interventions designed to improve cognitive function in older adults.”
Clark and colleagues performed a secondary analysis of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study, a multisite, randomized trial (mean age, 73.6 years; 902 with obesity; 1,081 with overweight; 701 with normal weight). Participants were randomly assigned to different groups of cognitive training: memory training, reasoning speed of processing training or no training (control). The researchers included social demographics, chronic disease and health measures as covariates. The study assessed outcomes at years 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 after intervention.
Among participants with obesity, the training effect on memory was just 38% of that in participants with normal weight, Clark and colleagues wrote. The patients’ reasoning and speed of processing outcomes did not differ by BMI status, and researchers reported that in those randomly assigned to the control arm, BMI status had no effect on performance in the memory, reasoning or speed of processing categories.
The analysis was limited by its reliance on statistical modeling to adjust for differences in the participants’ baseline characteristics, according to the researchers, noting that although the study “was a large and well-thought-out trial … it was not designed to investigate the role of obesity in cognition or cognitive responses to cognitive training.” – by Andy Polhamus
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.