Free-living wrist and hip accelerometry forecast cognitive decline among older adults without dementia over 1- or 5-years in two distinct observational cohorts

The prevalence of major neurocognitive disorders is expected to rise over the next 3 decades as the number of adults ≥65 years old increases. Noninvasive screening capable of flagging individuals most at risk of subsequent cognitive decline could trigger closer monitoring and preventive strategies. In this study, we used free-living accelerometry data to forecast cognitive decline within 1- or 5-years in older adults without dementia using two cohorts. The first cohort, recruited in the south side of Chicago, wore hip accelerometers for 7 continuous days. The second cohort, nationally recruited, wore wrist accelerometers continuously for 72 h. Separate classifier models forecasted 1-year cognitive decline with over 85% accuracy using hip data and forecasted 5-year cognitive decline with nearly 70% accuracy using wrist data, significant improvements compared to demographics and comorbidities alone. The proposed models are readily translatable to clinical practices serving ageing populations.

Chengjian Shi, Niser Babiker, Jacek K. Urbanek, Robert L. Grossman, Megan Huisingh-Scheetz, Andrey Rzhetsky