The association of dementia risk symptoms and functional activity in adults with Down syndrome

INTRODUCTION Adults with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia, often showing neuropathological indicators by age 40. Physical function and activities of daily living (ADLs) are understudied areas of function that may inform dementia risk. We investigated associations among age, physical function (gait/balance, grip strength, and lower extremity strength), ADLs, and dementia risk symptoms in adults with DS. We hypothesized that compromised physical function and lower independence with ADLs would be associated with an informant/caregiver‐reported measure of dementia risk symptoms. METHODS A secondary analysis for this cross‐sectional study was completed using data from two academic research centers with 43 adults with DS (age 30 ± 12 years). We examined the association of dementia risk symptoms, captured through the Dementia Screening Questionnaire for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (DSQIID), with physical function (timed up and go [TUG], sit‐to‐stand [STS], grip strength) and ADLs (Waisman Activities of Daily Living Scale). A linear regression model for the continuous dementia risk measure in the DSQIID used a log transformation of (1 + log(Y + 1)) to account for a high zero count. Wilcoxon rank‐sum tests were used to assess differences in the physical function measures, DSQIID questionnaire, and Waisman ADL by dividing mean age categories. RESULTS Higher DSQIID scores were associated with lower independence with ADLs (β = −0.103, p = 0.008), slower gait times (TUG; β = 0.112, p = 0.034), and impaired lower extremity strength (STS; β = 0.112, p = 0.017) and grip strength (β = −0.039, p = 0.034). DSQIID scores differed significantly between the ≥30 and