Dietary Supplement Intake and Its Association with Cognitive Function, Physical Fitness, Depressive Symptoms, Nutritional Status and Biochemical Indices in a 3-Year Follow-Up Among Community Dwelling Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Divya Vanoh,1 Suzana Shahar,2 Hanis Mastura Yahya,2 Normah Che Din,2 Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin,2 Devinder Kaur Ajit Singh,2 Razinah Sharif,2 Nor Fadilah Rajab2 1Nutrition & Dietetics Programme, School of Health Science, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia; 2Center for Healthy Aging and Wellness (H‐Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaCorrespondence: Suzana ShaharCenter for Healthy Aging and Wellness (H‐Care), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaEmail [email protected]: Use of dietary supplements by older adults has been increasing for improving micronutrient deficiencies, cognitive function, and overall health status. Thus, the objective of this secondary investigation is to explore the longitudinal association of baseline supplement intake in improving cognitive function, biochemical parameters, anthropometric variables and physical fitness among older adults.Methods: Towards Useful Aging (TUA) is a three-year longitudinal study conducted at baseline (2013– 2014) and at follow-up (2015– 2017) surveys. The number of participants dropped from 2322 during baseline study to 1787 and 1560 during the 18th and 36th month follow-up, respectively. Data on socio-demography, use of dietary supplement, biochemical indices, anthropometry, cognitive function, physical fitness and depressive symptoms were obtained. Longitudinal associations were done using the linear mixed model analysis among 1285 subjects with complete data.Results: The most common vitamin and mineral supplementations consumed were multivitamin, B-complex, and calcium. Meanwhile, the herbal supplements consumed by participants were Eurycoma longifolia, Morinda citrifolia and Orthosiphon aristatus. Longitudinal analysis adjusted for multiple covariates showed improvement in both supplement users and non-users for global cognitive function, working memory, visual memory, 2-minute step test, chair stand test, chair sit and reach and time up and go test, waist circumference and hip circumference in both the supplement users and non-users.Conclusion: Our findings indicated that dietary supplement intake is not associated with cognitive function, physical fitness, nutritional status, depressive symptoms or biochemical indices since improvement in the parameters was observed among both supplement users and non-users.Keywords: dietary supplement, cognitive function, physical fitness, depressive symptoms, nutritional status, biochemical

Keywords

• dietary supplement
• cognitive function
• physical fitness
• depressive symptoms
• nutritional status
• biochemical