Lifetime Physical Activity and White Matter Hyperintensities in Cognitively Intact Adults

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) observed on magnetic resonance images are associated with depression and increase the risk of stroke, dementia, and death. The association between physical activity and WMHs has been inconsistently reported in the literature, perhaps because studies did not account for a lifetime of physical activity or depression.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which a lifetime of leisure-time physical activity is associated with less WMHs while accounting for depression.

Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the Lifetime Total Physical Activity Questionnaire, where the metabolic equivalent of task hours per week per year was calculated. Cognitively intact participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging, where WMHs as a percentage of intracranial volume was obtained. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was performed to compare WMHs in a more active group with a group with no psychiatric history (n = 20, mean age = 62.2 years), with a less active group with no psychiatric history (n = 13, mean age = 64.0 years), and a less active group with history of late-onset depression (n = 14, mean age = 62.8 years).

Results: There was not a statistically significant difference in WMHlg10 between the more and less active groups without a psychiatric history (b = .09, p > .05) or between the more active group without a psychiatric history and the less active group with a history of depression (b = .01, p > .05). The model was predictive of WMHlg10, explaining an adjusted 15% of the variance in WMHs (p = .041).

Discussion: A lifetime of leisure-time physical activity was not associated with WMHs when accounting for depression.