Bergmann Matteo, Geda Yonas Endale, Boes Klaus, Woll Alexander, Krell-Roesch Janina
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, USA.
Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2025 Jun 14;22(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s11556-025-00376-9.
Higher physical fitness is associated with various health outcomes, including decreased dementia risk. Little is known as to whether physical fitness is also associated with new onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Our aim was to provide an overview of longitudinal research on the associations between physical fitness and the risk of incident MCI.
We conducted a systematic literature review that examined associations between different components of physical fitness such as strength or endurance with incident MCI in older adults. We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases for longitudinal and/ or prospective cohort studies published in English or German. Screening was performed independently by two authors, and quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale.
The search yielded 12,298 studies, of which 19 were included in the review, with follow-up times ranging from 2 to 26 years, and sample sizes ranging from 87 to 995,243 persons. Thirteen studies that examined associations between strength, variables related to muscle quality and function with incident MCI revealed inconsistent findings, e.g., six studies showed that lower handgrip strength was associated with higher MCI risk or that higher handgrip strength was associated with decreased MCI risk, respectively; while five studies reported no associations between handgrip strength and MCI risk or only for females. One study reported associations between lower cardiovascular fitness and increased risk of MCI. Twelve studies examined associations between balance, mobility and gait-related variables, mainly focusing on gait speed, but results were inconsistent, e.g., while some reported associations between slower gait speed and increased MCI risk, others did not or only in subgroups. Five studies reported associations between higher global/ composite fitness scores and decreased risk of incident MCI. Quality of included studies was rated as good.
Higher cardiovascular and overall physical fitness is associated with a decreased risk of incident MCI. There are inconsistent associations between strength, balance- or gait-related variables and MCI risk. These findings indicate the importance of overall and cardiovascular physical fitness to potentially delay new onset of MCI. More research is needed to confirm these observations, and to untangle mechanisms underlying the associations between physical fitness components and MCI risk.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s11556-025-00376-9.
较高的身体素质与多种健康结果相关，包括降低痴呆风险。关于身体素质是否也与轻度认知障碍（MCI）的新发有关，目前知之甚少。我们的目的是概述关于身体素质与MCI发病风险之间关联的纵向研究。
我们进行了一项系统的文献综述，研究了身体素质的不同组成部分（如力量或耐力）与老年人MCI发病之间的关联。我们在PubMed、Scopus和Web of Science数据库中搜索以英文或德文发表的纵向和/或前瞻性队列研究。筛选由两位作者独立进行，纳入研究的质量使用纽卡斯尔渥太华量表进行评估。
检索到12298项研究，其中19项纳入综述，随访时间为2至26年，样本量为87至995243人。13项研究考察了力量、与肌肉质量和功能相关的变量与MCI发病之间的关联，结果不一致，例如，6项研究表明较低的握力与较高的MCI风险相关，或者较高的握力与降低的MCI风险相关；而5项研究报告握力与MCI风险之间无关联，或仅在女性中有关联。1项研究报告较低的心血管健康水平与MCI风险增加有关。12项研究考察了平衡、活动能力和步态相关变量之间的关联，主要关注步速，但结果不一致，例如，一些研究报告较慢的步速与增加的MCI风险相关，而另一些研究则没有，或仅在亚组中有关联。5项研究报告较高的整体/综合身体素质得分与降低的MCI发病风险相关。纳入研究的质量被评为良好。
较高的心血管和整体身体素质与降低的MCI发病风险相关。力量、平衡或步态相关变量与MCI风险之间的关联不一致。这些发现表明整体和心血管身体素质对于潜在延缓MCI的新发很重要。需要更多研究来证实这些观察结果，并理清身体素质组成部分与MCI风险之间关联的潜在机制。
在线版本包含可在10.1186/s11556-025-00376-9获取的补充材料。
