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In a new study, researchers have identified an association between light-intensity physical exercise in older adults and a reduced risk of dementia.

The researchers split participants into four groups depending on how active they were: inactive, insufficiently active, active, and highly active.

They found that insufficiently active participants had a 10% reduced risk of developing dementia compared with inactive participants.

Active participants had a 20% reduced risk, while highly active participants had a 28% reduced risk.

The findings remained the same even after accounting for age, sex, and incidence of stroke and other comorbidities.

Medical News Today spoke with Dr. Boyoung Joung, a professor of internal medicine at Yonsei University College of Medicine in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and the study’s corresponding author. He said that “[i]n our study, we would like to emphasize that even light-intensity physical activity, as opposed to total sedentary behavior, could lead to a reduction in risk of dementia.”

“Therefore, older adults who cannot perform activity beyond moderate-intensity physical activity, due to frailty or comorbidities, could benefit from light-intensity physical activity.”