Higher daily step counts tied to lower risk of dementia: JAMA

UK: Higher-intensity exercise and accumulating more steps each day may be linked to a lower risk of dementia onset, just beneath the widely accepted threshold of 10,000 steps per day, states a study published in JAMA Neurology.

A common method of giving the general public physical activity goals is through step counts. It has been claimed that an ideal dose of 6000–8000 steps can lower the risk of mortality from all causes. Guidelines for dementia prevention may be best served by step-based advice. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether step count and intensity correlate with the prevalence of dementia.

The authors aimed to investigate the dose-response relationship between regular step count and the severity and frequency of dementia from all causes among individuals in UK.

For this purpose, during the period of February 2013 to December 2015, a UK Biobank prospective population-based cohort research was carried out and data analysis was completed in May 2022. All 103 684 eligible adults between the ages of 40 and 79 who had accurate wrist accelerometer data were included, making up 78 430 people in all. Through October 2021, registry-based dementia was determined. They employed cadence-based stepping metrics that captured pace and intensity in unrestricted circumstances, including incidental steps (measured as fewer than 40 steps per minute) and purposeful steps (described as 40 or more steps per minute) during exercise, as well as peak 30-minute cadence. The primary outcomes included incident dementia (fatal and nonfatal), which was discovered through linking with inpatient hospitalization or primary care records, or listed as the primary or contributing cause of death in death registers. To evaluate dose-response relationships, Spline Cox regressions were employed.