Association of physical activity with dementia and cognitive decline in UK Biobank

INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of studies on the association between specific physical activity (PA) types and dementia. We examined the association of leisure time physical activity (LTPA), occupational physical activity (OPA), and sedentary lifestyle with dementia risk and cognitive decline using the UK‐Biobank study. METHODS: Baseline PA was collected using questionnaires. A total of 502,481 dementia‐free participants were recruited in 2006–2010 and followed for 10 years until the end of 2020 for the ascertainment of dementia. Associations of PA with incident dementia and cognitive decline were examined. RESULTS: Higher levels of LTPA and OPA and lower levels of sedentary hours were associated with lower dementia risk. The fifth quintiles of LTPA (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43‐0.67) and OPA (HR = 0.68, 95% CI:0.51‐0.90) had lower dementia risk, whereas the fifth quintile of sedentary lifestyle had higher dementia risk (HR = 1.23, 95% CI:1.08‐1.41). DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest the promotion of an active lifestyle suggested to be preventive of dementia risk. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application Number 71022.