Association Between Executive Attention and Physical Functional Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Women
Abstract
Objectives Executive functions supervise the contents of working memory, where information from long-term memory is integrated with information in the immediate present. This study examined whether executive attentional abilities were uniquely associated with the performance of complex, instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) in cognitively intact and physically high-functioning older women. Methods Participants were 406 community-residing, older women aged 70-80 years in the Women's Health and Aging Study (WHAS) II, screened to be physically high functioning and cognitively intact using the Mini-Mental State Exam. Hierarchical regression models, adjusted for demographic and disease variables, were used to evaluate the association of cognitive domains, including executive attention, memory, psychomotor speed, and spatial ability with summary measures of IADL (e.g., looking up and dialing a telephone number) and mobility-based ADL (e.g., walking 4 meters) function. Results Tests of executive attention were associated with performance on IADLs (6.6%) and, to a lesser degree, mobility-based ADLs (1%), adjusting for demographic and disease variables. In particular, the mental flexibility component of the Trail Making Test accounted for the majority of attentional variance in IADL performance. Older age, lower education, and African American race were also associated with poorer physical test performances. Discussion Executive difficulties in flexibly planning and initiati…
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Declines in executive functioning, even more than global cognitive declines, exert the largest negative impact on older adults, threatening their ability to manage their lives and live independently.
“Declines in executive functioning, even more than global cognitive declines, exert the largest negative impact on older adults, threatening their ability to manage their lives and live independently (Cahn‐Weiner et al. 2000; Carlson et al. 1999; Johnson, Lui, and Yaffe 2007; Marshall et al. 2011).”
From Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen‐State Interactions (2020) · cites this paper as Carlson et al. 1999
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References 43 · Cited by 194
- Authors
- Carlson, M. C., Fried, L. P., Xue, Q.-L., Bandeen-Roche, K., Zeger, S. L., & Brandt, J.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1999-09-01
- Volume
- 54B
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- S262-S270
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- OpenAlex
- W2138625426
- Cited by
- 194
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 2.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG011703, 5P30 AG-12844-05, R01 AG-00149)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- executive attention, executive function, physical functional performance, instrumental activities of daily living, activities of daily living, older women, cognitive aging, cognitive flexibility, Trail Making Test, psychomotor speed, spatial ability, physical function decline, community-dwelling older adults
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Attention, Cognition, Educational Status, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Mental Status Schedule, Neuropsychological Tests, Prospective Studies, Psychomotor Performance, Surveys and Questionnaires, Regression Analysis, Baltimore, Geriatric Assessment, Racial Groups
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