Just like how different diets have different effects on your health, different sedentary behaviors can have varying impacts on your risk of dementia. A recent study looked at the relationship between driving and non-occupational computer use with the risk of dementia in older adults. The study followed a large group of European middle- and old-aged adults over a period of several years. The participants were surveyed about their driving and computer use habits, and their dementia diagnoses were tracked over time. The results showed that spending 0 to 1 hour per day driving was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia compared to spending more time on the road. On the other hand, spending no time using a computer for non-occupational purposes was associated with a higher risk of dementia compared to using a computer for at least some time each day. These findings suggest that it’s not just the duration of sedentary behavior that matters, but also the type of behavior. Further research is needed to fully understand the underlying mechanisms and potential interventions to reduce dementia risk.

Sedentary behaviors have been associated with the risk of dementia in older adults. Whether driving and computer use are associated with the risk of dementia in older adults is an important research question. The participants of a longitudinal cohort study that included European middle- and old-aged adults at the baseline (2006–2010) who had not been diagnosed with dementia before 5 years after the baseline and had not died within 5 years after the baseline were followed up (until 2018) and analyzed. The associations between driving and non-occupational computer use time measured by the questionnaire at the baseline and incident dementia 5 years after the baseline were analyzed after correcting for confounding variables. Each analysis included approximately 370,000 participants and 1,000 cases. According to Cox proportional hazard models that divide subjects into four groups of habit duration levels [(a) 0 h; (b) less than 1 h, 1 h; (c), 2 h, 3 h; (d) 4 h or more, per/day)], the group with 0 h < driving time ≤1 h at the baseline exhibited a significantly lower risk of incident dementia than the other groups. In addition, in the analysis of non-occupational computer use duration, the 0 h group exhibited a significantly higher risk than the other groups. Our results indicate that different sedentary behaviors have different associations with dementia risk over time and have no simple dose–response relationship with dementia risk. The sedentary behavior risk assessments must consider these factors.

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