VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER SCORES ON THE MMSE IN AN OLDER HISPANIC MEXICAN AMERICAN POPULATION: A HEALTH & AGING BRAIN AMONG LATINO ELDERS (HABLE) STUDY

Background: Physical activity has been shown to delay the onset and effects of cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. Few studies have evaluated the effects of physical activity among Hispanic Mexican Americans, a minority segment of the population, which has been shown to be less active when compared to non-Hispanic Whites. This study serves to evaluate the relationship between physical activity and cognition among Hispanic Mexican American, adults and elders Methods: Preliminary data was analyzed on 19 Hispanic Mexican Americans enrolled in the Health and Aging Brain Study among Latino Elders (HABLE), a recently developed community-based study of factors related to aging. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was utilized to assess physical activity and global cognitive functioning was evaluated with the Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE). Separate linear regressions were conducted to analyze the relationship between hours spent engaging in either vigorous, moderate, or walking forms of physical activity and global cognitive functioning. Covariates included age, gender, education and language of test administration. Results: The results indicated that level of physical activity among Hispanic Mexican Americans differentially impacted cognitive functioning. Among those in the sample who engaged in vigorous activity, there was a significant relationship on global cognition such that increased hours of vigorous activity was positively related to global cognition (p=0.04). There was no significant association found between hours of moderate (p=0.74) or walking (p=0.70) physical activity and cognition. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the impact of level of physical activity on cognitive functioning among Hispanic Mexican Americans. . Vigorous physical activity was significantly related to better cognition among Hispanic Mexican Americans and more research is needed to further explore this relationship.