MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, London, UK.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Jan 1;75(1):155-161. doi: 10.1093/gerona/gly275.
Cognitive processing plays a crucial role in the integration of sensory input and motor output that facilitates balance. However, whether balance ability in adulthood is influenced by cognitive pathways established in childhood is unclear, especially as no study has examined if these relationships change with age. We aimed to investigate associations between childhood cognition and age-related change in standing balance between mid and later life.
Data on 2,380 participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development were included in analyses. Repeated measures multilevel models estimated the association between childhood cognition, assessed at age 15, and log-transformed balance time, assessed at ages 53, 60-64, and 69 using the one-legged stand with eyes closed. Adjustments were made for sex, death, attrition, anthropometric measures, health conditions, health behaviors, education, other indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP), and adult verbal memory.
In a sex-adjusted model, 1 standard deviation increase in childhood cognition was associated with a 13% (95% confidence interval: 10, 16; p < .001) increase in balance time at age 53, and this association got smaller with age (cognition × age interaction: p < .001). Adjustments for education, adult verbal memory, and SEP largely explained these associations.
Higher childhood cognition was associated with better balance performance in midlife, with diminishing associations with increasing age. The impact of adjustment for education, cognition and other indicators of SEP suggested a common pathway through which cognition is associated with balance across life. Further research is needed to understand underlying mechanisms, which may have important implications for falls risk and maintenance of physical capability.
认知处理在整合感觉输入和运动输出方面起着至关重要的作用，这有助于平衡。然而，成年后的平衡能力是否受到儿童时期建立的认知途径的影响尚不清楚，尤其是因为没有研究调查这些关系是否会随着年龄的变化而变化。我们旨在研究儿童认知与从中年到晚年的站立平衡的年龄相关变化之间的关系。
对来自 MRC 国家健康与发展调查的 2380 名参与者的数据进行了分析。使用单腿闭眼站立测试，重复测量多层次模型估计了 15 岁时的儿童认知与 53 岁、60-64 岁和 69 岁时的对数转换平衡时间之间的关联。调整了性别、死亡、损耗、人体测量指标、健康状况、健康行为、教育、其他社会经济地位（SEP）指标和成人言语记忆。
在性别调整模型中，儿童认知提高 1 个标准差与 53 岁时平衡时间增加 13%（95%置信区间：10，16；p <.001）相关，并且随着年龄的增长，这种关联变小（认知×年龄交互作用：p <.001）。调整教育、成人言语记忆和 SEP 后，这些关联在很大程度上得到了解释。
较高的儿童认知与中年时更好的平衡表现相关，随着年龄的增长，关联逐渐减弱。调整教育、认知和其他 SEP 指标的影响表明，认知与整个生命周期的平衡之间存在共同的途径。需要进一步研究以了解潜在机制，这可能对跌倒风险和身体能力的维持具有重要意义。
