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Robert D. Abbott, PhD; Lon R. White, MD; G. Webster Ross, MD; Kamal H. Masaki, MD; J. David Curb, MD; Helen Petrovitch, MD

JAMA. 2004;292:1447-1453.

Context  Evidence suggests that physical activity may be related to the clinical expression of dementia. Whether the association includes low-intensity activity such as walking is not known.

Objective  To examine the association between walking and future risk of dementia in older men.

Design  Prospective cohort study.

Setting and Participants  Distance walked per day was assessed from 1991 to 1993 in 2257 physically capable men aged 71 to 93 years in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. Follow-up for incident dementia was based on neurological assessment at 2 repeat examinations (1994-1996 and 1997-1999).

Main Outcome Measures  Overall dementia, Alzheimer disease, and vascular dementia.

Results  During the course of follow-up, 158 cases of dementia were identified (15.6/1000 person-years). After adjusting for age, men who walked the least (<0.25 mile/d) experienced a 1.8-fold excess risk of dementia compared with those who walked more than 2 mile/d (17.8 vs 10.3/1000 person-years; relative hazard [RH], 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-3.01). Compared with men who walked the most (>2 mile/d), an excess risk of dementia was also observed in those who walked 0.25 to 1 mile/d (17.6 vs 10.3/1000 person-years; RH, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.02-2.86). These associations persisted after accounting for other factors, including the possibility that limited amounts of walking could be the result of a decline in physical function due to preclinical dementia.

Conclusions  Findings suggest that walking is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Promoting active lifestyles in physically capable men could help late-life cognitive function.

Author Affiliations: Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville (Dr Abbott); Pacific Health Research Institute (Drs Abbott, White, Ross, Masaki, Curb, and Petrovitch), Department of Veterans Affairs (Drs White, Ross, and Petrovitch), Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, Kuakini Medical Center (Drs Abbott, White, Ross, Masaki, Curb, and Petrovitch), and Departments of Geriatric Medicine and Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii (Drs White, Ross, Masaki, Curb, and Petrovitch), Honolulu.

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