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P1‐256: Memory difficulties and sitting screen time in the elderly
Author(s) -
Gillum Richard F.,
Ngwa Julius S.,
Dodd Isaac M.E.,
Obisesan Thomas O.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2015.06.457
Subject(s) - sitting , confusion , medicine , logistic regression , screen time , demography , national health and nutrition examination survey , gerontology , psychology , physical therapy , physical activity , environmental health , population , pathology , sociology , psychoanalysis
Background:Lack of physical activity and exercise is associated with poorer memory and a greater risk of dementia and mortality in the elderly. Daily hours spent sitting or viewing TV is associated with adverse physical health outcome and mortality. Studies associating sitting and memory are lacking. We examined data from a national US survey to evaluate the hypothesis that increased daily sitting hours is associated with greater prevalence of difficulty with memory and confusion in persons aged 60 years and over. Methods: In NHANES 2005-2006 survey, participants were asked the following: (1) “{Are you/Is SP} limited in any way because of difficulty remembering or because {you/s/ he} experience{s} periods of confusion?” (2) “Over the past 30 days, on average about how many hours per day did {you/SP} sit and watch TV or videos?” (3) “Over the past 30 days, on average about how many hours per day did {you/SP} use a computer or play computer games?” TV/video and computer hours were summed to estimate sitting screen-hours. We assessed the association of sitting screen-hours and memory/confusion in persons aged 60 years and over. Results: Among 1,356 persons with complete data, 194 (14%) reported limitations due to memory/confusion. The median number of screen-hours was 3 per day. Among persons with memory/confusion problems, the mean screen-hours was 3.28 compared to 3.10 in others (p1⁄40.27). In a logistic regression model controlling for age, gender, race and fair/poor health status, screenhours was not significantly associated with memory/confusion problems: odds ratio 1.04 (95% confidence interval 0.96-1.13). Persons with >3 screen-hours per day had odds ratio of 1.16 (0.841.59) relative to others. Conclusions: In persons aged 60 and over, more hours sitting before a screen was not significantly associated with more difficulty with memory/confusion. Studies in larger samples may be warranted.