노인의 악력과 인지기능의 연관성 : 고령화연구패널조사(2006-2016)를 이용하여

Abstract

Cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly are major chronic disorders that cause disability worldwide, while also lead to the transition from communities to nursing facilities. Considering the aging trend in Korea, the national burden of diseases due to cognitive decline and dementia is expected to increase greatly in the future. As a physical function, handgrip strength has been associated with limitations of everyday ability, subjective health, frailty, and mortality. Studies have been continuously reported that handgrip strength is related to cognitive function, but there is a lack of study on the association between handgrip strength and cognitive function based on data from South Korea. This study aimed to identify the association between baseline handgrip strength and cognitive function in the elderly. This study used the data from 1st to 6th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging(KLoSA). The study participants were 1,738 elderly persons aged over 65 who participated in the survey more than once and did not show cognitive impairment in the 1st survey. Variables that are expected to be related to cognitive function were selected and analyzed including socio-demographic factors and health-related factors. Taking into account differences in handgrip strength by sex, the analysis was performed separately by sex. Descriptive analysis, univariable analysis that reflects survey characteristics including t-test, analysis of variance, simple regression analysis, and multivariable analysis using linear mixed model were performed. Of the 1,738 participants, 984 were male and 754 were female. In the model with adjustment of all covariates, handgrip strength and cognitive function show significant association in male (β=0.03, SE=0.01, p<0.001). Low cognitive function is associated with progress of survey year, rural residence, and depressive symptoms in male. High cognitive function is associated with high educational attainment, currently working status, and exercise at least once a week in male. Handgrip strength and cognitive function also show significant association in female (β=0.05, SE=0.02, p=0.004). Low cognitive function is associated with progress of survey year, rural residence, and depressive symptoms. High cognitive function is associated with high educational attainment and exercise at least once a week. The results reveal a significant association between baseline handgrip strength and cognitive function in the elderly. The handgrip strength is not only an easily applicable method of measurement, but also an indicator that reflects a significant association with cognitive function. It is expected that this method can be used as a useful tool in terms of enhancing the treatment appropriateness of individual and reducing the national burden of diseases by promoting further screening tests and appropriate therapeutic interventions in a timely manner.