title: The relationship between dual-task and cognitive performance among elderly participants who exercise regularly.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The dual-task performance is associated with the functionality of the elderly and it becomes more complex with age.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between the Timed Up and Go dual task (TUG-DT) and cognitive tests among elderly participants who exercise regularly.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study examined 98 non-institutionalized people over 60 years old who exercised regularly. Participants were assessed using the TUG-DT (i.e. doing the TUG while listing the days of the week in reverse order), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). The motor (i.e. time and number of steps) and cognitive (i.e. number of correct words) data were collected from TUG-DT. We used a significance level of α=0.05 and SPSS 17.0 for all data analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This current elderly sample featured a predominance of women (69.4%) who were highly educated (median=10 years of education) compared to Brazilian population and mostly non-fallers (86.7%). The volunteers showed a good performance on the TUG-DT and the other cognitive tests, except the MoCA, with scores below the cutoff of 26 points. Significant and weak correlations were observed between the TUG-DT (time) and the visuo-spatial/executive domain of the MoCA and the MMSE. The cognitive component of the TUG-DT showed strong correlations between the total MoCA performance score and its visuo-spatial/executive domain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of the TUG-DT to assess cognition is promising; however, the use of more challenging cognitive tasks should be considered when the study population has a high level of education.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciana C A
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ansai
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Larissa P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anielle C M
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis