Doing household chores boosts cognitive function in older adults

Nonrecreational physical activity (PA) like housework improves cognitive function in older adults, particularly in the domains of attention and memory, according to a recent Singapore study.

“The positive associations of housework levels with physical and sensorimotor functions in older adults were intensity dependent. Housework may also complement recreational PAs among current older community-dwelling adults in high-income countries towards healthier ageing,” the researchers said.

The study cohort included 249 younger (aged <65 years, 57 percent women) and 240 older (aged ≥65 years, 57.1 percent women) adults in whom physical function was assessed according to gait speed, the repeated-chair-sit-to-stand test, and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Meanwhile, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) and Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA) were used to evaluate cognitive and sensorimotor function, respectively.

Among older adults, RBANS was 8-percent higher in those who performed high vs low levels (>15 vs <15 minutes/week) of heavy household work (p=0.012). No such interaction between heavy housework and cognitive performance was reported for young adults (p=0.630). [BMJ Open 2021;11:e052557]

Such an effect was driven mostly by attention index scores, which were 14-percent higher in older adults who performed high levels of heavy housework per week (p=0.014). Immediate memory index scores showed a similar pattern but only reached borderline significance (p=0.055). Both domains were unrelated to heavy housework in younger adults.

Light household work also exerted notable benefits on cognition. Older adults who performed high vs low levels (>315 vs <315 minutes/week) of light housework had 5-percent greater RBANS global cognition score (p=0.016), an effect absent in younger adults (p=0.335).

The link between light housework and cognition was driven by immediate and delayed memory index scores, which were higher by 12 percent (p<0.001) and 8 percent (p=0.004) in the subgroup that performed high levels of light housework, respectively.

Aside from cognitive benefits, heavy housework also yielded improvements in physical and sensorimotor functions in older adults, leading to an 8-percent lower sit-to-stand time (p=0.011). PPA index score was likewise 23-percent lower in those who performed high levels of housework per week (p=0.04). No such interaction was found for young adults nor for light household work.

“Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that the intensity of housework was differentially associated with specific cognitive domains,” the researchers said. “Heavy housework was associated with higher scores in the attention domain, while light housework was associated with higher scores in both delayed and immediate memory domains in older adults.”

“More studies are required to understand the underlying mechanisms driving the age-associated differing associations of housework intensity with specific cognitive domains,” they said, adding that “future longitudinal and intervention studies are required to establish causality between housework activities and functional health.”