The aim of this study was to explore respiratory function and upper extremity functional activity in people with dementia (PWD) and the associations between these variables and cognitive function (n = 22 institutionalized PWD, 28 community-dwelling PWD, and 26 healthy older people). All measures were significantly lower in PWD who live in an institution, such as a nursing home or long-term care facility or who attend adult daycare than PWD who live in a community dwelling . The values from these two groups were significantly lower than those from healthy older people. Moderate to high negative correlations between upper extremity functional activity and respiratory function (-.73 < rs < -.49) and cognitive function (rs = -.83), and between cognitive function and respiratory function (-.74 < rs < -.58) were identified (p < .001). When adjusted for cognitive function (-.38 < rs < -.29; p < .05), the association between upper limb functional activity and respiratory function decreased. The decline demonstrates the importance of physical activity and cognitive and respiratory function in PWD.
Keywords: cognitive decline; functional decline; institutionalization; respiratory infections.