The association between closed-eye unipedal standing and the risk of cognitive impairment in the elderly: a 7-year community-based cohort study in Wuhan, China

Shiwei Wang; Peng Guo; Chengjing Huang; Yuqian Zhang; Bing Xiang; Jing Zeng; Feng Zhou; Xinyan Xie; Yan Guo; Mei Yang

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2024.1308151

The association between closed-eye unipedal standing and the risk of cognitive impairment in the elderly: a 7-year community-based cohort study in Wuhan, China

Front Aging Neurosci. 2024 Jan 26:16:1308151. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2024.1308151. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Shiwei Wang^#¹, Peng Guo^#^{1

2}, Chengjing Huang¹, Yuqian Zhang¹, Bing Xiang¹, Jing Zeng¹, Feng Zhou¹, Xinyan Xie¹, Yan Guo³, Mei Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Public Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
² Integrated Health Section, Wuhan Jiang'an Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
³ School Health Center, Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objectives: The prevention of cognitive impairment in the elderly is one of the public health priority areas. However, the relationship between closed-eye unipedal standing and cognitive impairment remains unclear.

Methods: This study was conducted on a group of elderly individuals from a community, using a prospective cohort study design. Participants were monitored for 7 years and were diagnosed with new-onset cognitive impairment. Logistic regression models and restricted cubic spline (RCS) were used to investigate the relationship between closed-eye unipedal standing and cognitive impairment. Stratified analysis by baseline characteristics were also performed.

Results: At baseline, 1,652 people aged 65 years or older were enrolled. Ultimately, 880 participants completed the follow-up and 155 (17.61%) of them satisfied the diagnostic criteria for cognitive impairment at follow-up. Compared to the closed-eye unipedal standing low group as the reference, the middle (OR = 0.601, 95% CI: 0.396-0.911) and high (OR = 0.508, 95% CI: 0.329-0.785) groups had significantly lower cognitive impairment risks. RCS analysis indicated a linear relationship (P_{non - linear} = 0.177), with a reduced risk of developing cognitive impairment when the duration of closed-eye unipedal standing was exceeded ~2.920 s. Stratified analysis showed that for female, aged 70 years or younger, with 3 or more years of education, without lack of exercise and without falls within 1 year subgroup, the elderly in the high group of closed-eye unipedal standing had significantly reduced cognitive impairment risks.

Conclusion: Among the elderly population, closed-eye unipedal standing duration was linearly and negatively associated with the cognitive impairment risk. The closed-eye unipedal standing duration might be a predictive index for cognitive impairment in the elderly.

Keywords: closed-eye unipedal standing; cognitive impairment; cohort study; restricted cubic spline; the elderly.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2023020201010205).