Prevention of Dementia onset with Targeting at Physical Activity and Social Participation Among Japanese Community-Dwelling Older Adults

The number of dementia patients is rapidly increasing; therefore, developing dementia prevention measures are urgently needed. It is important to identify the factors related to dementia onset or cognitive decline and to develop intervention program focusing on the relevant factors of dementia. Previous studies reported that ≥150 minutes/week of Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) and high frequency of social group participation reduce the risk of dementia onset or cognitive decline. However, nearly half of Japanese older adults living in rural community (46.3%) did not meet the ≥150 min/week of MVPA. Moreover, the effective approach to increase physical activity has not been developed. Promotion of social participation could be new approach to increase physical activity for community-dwelling older adults, because social participation is accompanied with going outdoor regardless of their attitude toward physical activity. There are substantial “potential participants” who do not still participate in social activity with having willingness to participate in the activity. Hence, increasing the number of social group members may increase physical activity and prevent dementia onset.

Keywords: dementia, subjective cognitive complaints, prevention, physical activity, social participation, community-dwelling, older adults.