Association of physical activity and appetite with visual function related to driving competence in older adults

Abstract

Abstract Background Older people are at greater risk of traffic accidents, partially because of age-related declines in visual function, including reduced useful field of view (UFOV). However, lifestyle factors which cause age-related decline in UFOV remain poorly understood. We conducted a study to investigate whether physical activity and appetite status were related to UFOV test performance in healthy older adults. Methods Thirty community-dwelling older people (age 68.6 ± 3.1 years, 15 females) were enrolled in this study. Each participant completed the Council on Nutrition appetite questionnaire (CNAQ) and a UFOV test. They then wore a tri-axial accelerometer (Active style Pro HJA-350IT) for 3–6 consecutive days to objectively measure their PA in free-living conditions. Results Longer time spent in vigorous physical activity was significantly associated with better UFOV test performance when adjusted for age and accelerometer wear time (non-locomotive: r = −0.435, locomotive: r = −0.449; n = 25). In addition, male, but not female, participants with a higher CNAQ score had significantly better UFOV test performance in both an unadjusted model (r = −0.560; n = 15) and a model adjusted for age (r = −0.635; n = 15). Conclusions The results suggest that appetite status among males and time spent in high intensity PA are associated with visual function related to driving competence in older adults.

Keywords

• Lifestyle habit
• Physical activity
• Accelerometry
• Appetite
• Driving safety
• Useful field of view