VARIABILITY IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS OVER 14 YEARS PREDICTS LATER COGNITIVE OUTCOMES - Issue 2 - health behaviors and cognitive outcomes

Sep 28, 2026

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Health behaviors across the lifespan shape cognitive functioning, but the role of long-term variability is less clear. This study examined whether variability in physical exercise and sleep over a 14-year period predicted later cognitive performance among Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50–69 in 2004. Using variability computed from seven biennial assessments, results from linear regression showed that baseline cognition and education (and female gender) related to later cognition, while higher variability in exercise and sleep was linked to worse cognitive scores 14 years later.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

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Abstract

Study design and measures

Findings for exercise variability

Findings for sleep variability

Implications

700 Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 Abstract citation ID: igaf122.2387 VARIABILITY IN HEALTH BEHAVIORS OVER 14 YEARS PREDICTS LATER COGNITIVE OUTCOMES Elayna Seago, Benjamin Katz, and Laura Sands, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States Engaging in healthy behaviors is important for maintaining cognitive functioning throughout the lifespan.We assessed whether variability in physical exercise and hours of sleep over a fourteen year period are associated with subsequent cognitive performance among Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants aged 50-69 in 2004. We calculated variability in exercise and sleep across 7 biennial assessments by dividing the standard deviation of each participant’s biennial scores by the mean of the participant’s exercise or sleep score over the 14 year interval. Linear Regression analyses of participants aged 50-59 (n =2370) at baseline revealed that higher initial cognition and educational levels, and female gender were associated with higher cognitive scores 14 years later. Although baseline levels of exercise and mobility were not associated with cognitive scores 14 years later, older age, more chronic conditions at baseline, and higher variability in exercise scores over the 14 years were negatively associated with cognitive scores in 2018. Similar results were found for participants aged 60-69 (n=2738). We replicated the analyses described above to assess the association between variability in hours of sleep and subsequent cognitive functioning and found very similar findings. Importantly, we also found that the greater variability in biennial assessments of sleep was negatively associated with cognitive functioning 14 years later for those aged 50-59 (n =743) at baseline, and 60-69 (n=889) at baseline. The findings reveal the importance of considering variability in health behaviors when assessing their impact on future cognitive functioning and the importance of maintaining health behaviors throughout adulthood.

FAQs

What was the main objective of the study?

To assess whether variability in physical exercise and hours of sleep over 14 years is associated with later cognitive performance.

How did the study quantify variability in exercise and sleep?

Variability was calculated across seven biennial assessments as the standard deviation of each participant’s biennial scores divided by the participant’s mean exercise or sleep score over the 14-year interval.

What were the key findings about exercise and sleep variability?

Higher variability in exercise scores negatively associated with cognitive scores 14 years later, and greater variability in biennial assessments of sleep also showed a negative association with later cognitive functioning.

Sep 28, 2026

Upload by Himbo