journal articles
EFFECT OF ACCELEROMETER-MEASURED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AND RISK OF DEMENTIA
Le Li, Mengtong Xu, Lingmin Wu, Zhicheng Hu, Limin Liu, Likun Zhou, Minghao Zhao, Yulong Xiong, Zhenhao Zhang, Lihui Zheng, Ligang Ding, Yan Yao
BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) independently increases dementia risk, but whether accelerometer-measured physical activity (PA) modifies this association remains unquantified, particularly against self-reported PA limitations.
METHODS: Prospective analysis of 91,795 UK Biobank participants with valid accelerometer data (median age 57, 42.9 % male; 2800 with baseline AF). We categorized whether measured activity met the standard recommendation [moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) >_150 min/week]. Questionnaire-derived MVPA data from 353,643 UK Biobank participants (median age 57, male: 46.7 %) between 2006 and 2010 were used for validation. The primary outcome was the diagnosis of incident all-cause dementia. We also assessed correlation between accelerometer-derived and self-reported activity.
RESULTS: Over 7.6-year median follow-up, AF was significantly associated with a higher dementia risk [Adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 1.76, 95 % confidential interval (CI): 1.51–2.05]. Guideline-adherent PA was associated with a lower AF-related dementia risk to non-significance (aHR: 1.36, 95 %CI: 0.96–1.91). Moreover, PA may be associated with higher protection effect on dementia risk in AF patients (aHR: 0.55, 95 % CI: 0.33–0.92) than in non-AF (aHR: 0.81, 95 % CI: 0.69–0.96), although without statistical difference (Pinteraction = 0.213). Correlation between accelerometer-derived and selfreported MVPA was weak (Spearman r = 0.155, 95 % CI: 0.148–0.162). Self-reported activity was not associated with a decreased risk of dementia in both AF and non-AF participants.
CONCLUSION: Higher accelerometer-measured PA is associated with lower AF-associated dementia risk. Future prospective studies with extended follow-up and serial activity monitoring are needed to confirm these findings.
CITATION:
Le Li ; Mengtong Xu ; Lingmin Wu ; Zhicheng Hu ; Limin Liu ; Likun Zhou ; Minghao Zhao ; Yulong Xiong ; Zhenhao Zhang ; Lihui Zheng ; Ligang Ding ; Yan Yao (2025): Effect of accelerometer-measured physical activity on the association between atrial fibrillation and risk of dementia. The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease (JPAD). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjpad.2026.100603