Cognitive Impairment as a Predictor of Functional Declines; Japanese Cohort Study

Hiroko H. Dodge, University of Pittsburgh
Takashi Kadowaki, Shiga University of Medical Science
Takehito Hayakawa, Shiga University of Medical Science
Hirotsugu Ueshima, Shiga University of Medical Science

Past study showed that cognitive impairment is an important risk factor for current and future functional disability. Using a Japanese cohort data of originally community dwelling elderly sample with 3 years of follow-up, this study examined i) the magnitude of the association between cognitive impairment and functional impairment in individual ADL/IADL items cross sectionally, ii) cognitive impairment as a risk factor for future occurrence of functional dependence and decline, again studying each ADL/IADL item separately, and iii) to make our results comparable with past studies, we used total ADL/IADL scores and examined the effect of cognitive impairment on functional decline and mortality simultaneously. We found very large effects of cognitive impairment on current and future incidence of disability as well as mortality. Comparisons with US results and the implications in developing home care programs targeting to community dwelling elderly in need will be discussed.