Introduction: We studied whether objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) are associated with cognition in Finnish elderly twins.
Methods: This cross-sectional study comprised twins born in Finland from 1940 to 1944 in the Older Finnish Twin Cohort (mean age, 72.9 years; 726 persons). From 2014 to 2016, cognition was assessed with a validated telephonic interview, whereas PA was measured with a waist-worn accelerometer.
Results: In between-family models, SB and light physical activity had significant linear associations with cognition after adjusting for age, sex, wearing time, education level, body mass index, and living condition (SB: β-estimate, -0.21 [95% confidence intervals, -0.42 to -0.003]; light physical activity: β-estimate, 0.30 [95% confidence intervals, 0.02-0.58]). In within-family models, there were no significant linear associations between objectively measured PA and cognition.
Discussion: Objectively measured light physical activity and SB are associated with cognition in Finnish twins in their seventies, but the associations were attributable to genetic and environmental selection.
Keywords: Accelerometry; Actigraphy; Aged; Cognition; Dementia; Exercise; Genetics; Physical activity; Sedentary behavior; Twins.