Functional- rather than health related physical fitness predicts neurocognitive performance in Latin adults

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the association between physical performance (PP) and neurocognitive performance (NP) of Costa Rican adults ≥55 yr. Methods: Male and female participants (n = 273, age = 69.22 ± 5.13 yr.) completed batteries of laboratory-based PP and paper and pencil NP assessments. Statistical analysis computed in IBM-SPSS AMOS v.24 and R Studio v.3.6.1 included exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the PP and NP tests batteries. Associations between the PP and NP factors were studied in a subset of the original sample (n = 95, age = 69.07 ± 4.54 yr.). Results: CFA revealed a four-factor structure for the NP test battery that included executive functioning (EF), verbal memory (VM), logical memory (LM), and labeling and reading (LR) (Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings [ESSL] = 56.41% explained variance; Standardized Root Mean Square Residual [SRMSR] = 0.06; Comparative Fit Index [CFI] = 0.98), and a two-factor structure for the PP test battery that included health-related physical fitness (HRPF) and functional physical fitness (FPF) (ESSL = 50.54% explained variance; SRMSR = 0.07; CFI = 0.93). Multivariate regression models were created using the PP factors as predictors of NP. Significant associations were identified between FPF and EF and VM. Model 1 explained 9.08% of the variance of EF with FPF and sex as predictors. The effect of FPF on EF depends on sex, as demonstrated by different slopes for men and women (Men = 0.671, CI95% = 0.27, 1.08; Women = 0.140, CI95% = -0.94, 0.20, p < 0.05). Model 2 explained 20.57% of the variance of VM with age, FPF, and sex as predictors (Men = 0.604, CI95% = 0.22, 1.00; Women = 0.300; CI95% = 0.05, 0.56, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Despite previous evidence, there was no association between HRPF and NP. Sex and FPF predicted NP in Costa Rican adults. HRPF is strongly associated to FPF; therefore, future research should study the effect of interventions on these physical capacities and analyze possible moderator (i.e., sex) and mediator (i.e., underlying mechanisms) variables.