Short physical performance battery and dementia in adults aged 60 years and older

The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) is a simple and objective tool for assessing physical performance in older people. Although SPPB scores have been linked to all-cause mortality, their longitudinal association with incident dementia remains unclear. We used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), including 4927 adults aged ≥ 60 without dementia in 2012/2013. Baseline SPPB scores were categorized as high (10–12), moderate (7–9), low (4–6), and very low (0–3). Cox proportional hazards models estimated the association between different levels of physical performance and dementia risk, adjusting for demographic, health behaviors, and health status. Over a median 8.7-year follow-up, 252 (5.1%) participants developed dementia. Compared with high physical performance, low (HR = 1.71, 95% CI: 1.11–2.62) and very low (HR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.54–3.89) physical performance were significantly associated with higher dementia risk. Associations remained significant in women and adults aged < 80, although among men and adults aged ≥ 80, only very low SPPB showed significance. Sensitivity analysis showed robust results after excluding cases of dementia diagnosed within two years, reducing the likelihood of reverse causality. Physical performance assessed by the SPPB was significantly associated with dementia risk. These findings support the potential value of the SPPB in identifying older adults at higher risk of dementia. Future intervention studies are needed to determine whether improving physical performance can reduce dementia risk.