ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging Neurosci.
Sec. Neurocognitive Aging and Behavior
Volume 17 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1649682
Cognitive performance, sleep quality and physical activity as predictors of functional mobility in older adults
Provisionally accepted
Daniela Smirni1*
Garden Tabacchi1Roberta Cottone1Giovanni Angelo Navarra1Giulio Muscarnera1Vincenzo Di Noto2Antonino Scardina1
Marianna Bellafiore1- 1University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- 2Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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Objective: This study investigated the relationships between functional mobility and cognitive performance, sleep quality and physical activity in older adults according to age, sex, weight status and education, and whether these variables could be predictors of functional mobility and fall risk. Method: Eighty-five physically independent older adults (72.3 ± 5.67 years; 83.5% female), without significant cognitive impairments, were involved in this cross-sectional study. Functional mobility, cognitive functions as phonemic fluency, attention, memory, processing speed, and manual dexterity were respectively assessed with Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, phonemic fluency test, Grooved Pegboard Test, (GPT) and Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Stroop Color-Word Test. Sleep quality and physical activity were evaluated with self-reported questionnaires. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were performed. Results: Poorer TUG performance was significantly associated with older age (ρ = 0.46, p < .001), lower educational level, reduced GPT performance, and lower scores on working memory, and processing speed. Age and GPT performance showed the strongest associations with TUG results. Regression analysis confirmed age and manual dexterity as significant predictors of functional mobility. Conclusion: Older age and reduced manual dexterity were linked to greater fall risk. These findings suggest that early interventions targeting fine motor skills may help preserve mobility and prevent falls in aging populations.
Keywords: executive functions, Visuomotor coordination, Grooved Pegboard test, Timed up and go test, dynamic balance, fall risk
Received: 18 Jun 2025; Accepted: 15 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Smirni, Tabacchi, Cottone, Navarra, Muscarnera, Noto, Scardina and Bellafiore. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniela Smirni, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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