(PO01-36-22) Association Between Healthy Lifestyle Index and Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Lebanese Older Adult

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Presenting Author(s)

Berna Rahi, PhD
– Assistant professor, Sam Houston State University, The Woodlands, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

JA

Joelle Abi Kharma
– Lebanese American University
MC

Monique Chaaya
– American University of Beirut
ME

Maha Ezzeddine, MSc
– Lebanese American University

Disclosure(s):

Berna Rahi, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish the association between a healthy lifestyle that includes following a healthy diet, consuming moderate alcohol amount, being physically active, maintaining a healthy BMI and never smoking and cognitive decline in community dwelling Lebanese older adults.

Methods: A secondary cross-sectional data analysis was conducted on 502 community dwelling Lebanese older adults aged ≥65 years old and their informants. Cognitive decline was assessed using the validated arabic versions of the RUDAS, IQCODE and 10/66DRG. Healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was based on 5 components: diet, BMI, alcohol, physical activity and smoking with a score ranging from 0-20. The score was divided into quartiles and 3 categories created: Low adherence (Q1: 0-8), moderate adherence (Q2-Q3: 8-11) and high adherence (Q4: ≥12 points). Logistic regressions were performed to assess the relationship between HLI and prevalence of cognitive decline while adjusting for confounding factors.

Results: The final sample size included 432 participants with an average age of 72.4 years and constituted of 56.7% females. One third were cognitively declined and they were more likely to be females (p=0.002), older in age (p=0.002), had lower levels of education (p=0.008), took more medications (p=0.027), were less socially active (p=0.02) and in general they followed a less healthy lifestyle. Participants in the highest HLI category had a significantly lower prevalence of cognitive decline as demonstrated by RUDAS (p < 0.0001) and IQCODE (p < 0.0001), but not by 10/66DRG (p=0.069). Lastly, participants with the highest adherence to HLI had a 77% lower prevalence of cognitive decline when assessed by RUDAS (OR: 0.23, 95%CI: 0.12-0.45, p< 0.0001), but this association was not significant when assessed by IQCODE and 10/66 DRG.

Conclusions: The results showed that a healthy lifestyle might contribute to a lower prevalence of cognitive decline in older adults. Longitudinal prospective studies should be performed to assess the effect of adherence to a healthy lifestyle on cognition at early and late-life stages.

Funding Sources: The study was funded by the Fogarty International Center, American National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Aging, grant No. 1R21AG039333-01, under the program ‘Brain Disorders in the Developing World: Research across the Lifespan (BRAIN).