Age-related cognitive decline in spatial working memory occours on aging. Working memory requires manipulation and retention of visuospatial information (Spatial Working Memory - SWM) and it has been shown that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with more accurate and faster spatial memory responses in older people. Walked distance in the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is considered an adequate indirect measure of the physical and cardiorespiratory capacity of older adults, both in clinical and academic environments. Considering that higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness may be associated with better cognitive performance, we investigated the relationship between this construct and the working memory of older adults.

To analyze whether cardiovascular fitness is correlated to spatial working memory performance in a sample of older adults.

Participants over 60 years old were invited to the study. All participants performed an indirect assessment of cardiovascular fitness (6MWT), considering the distance walked and the average speed during the test. The cognitive assessment included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and working memory through the measurement of total errors (SWM TE) by automated testing of the Cambridge Battery of Automated Neuropsychological Tests (CANTAB). After searching for and removing outliers values and analyzing normality (Shapiro-Wilk), the Spearman test was performed. The significance level was set at p≤0.05. SPSS 20.0 software was used.

One hundred and forty-eight older adults (female: 120) participated. Participants were 70.2 (±5.967) years old and had 9.31 (±4.136) years of schooling. All participants performed within normal scores ​​adjusted for schooling on the MMSE. The results indicated a negative correlation between performance in the SWM TE and the distance walked in the 6MWT (ρ = –0.166; p ≤ 0.047), and between performance in the SWE TE and the average speed in the test (ρ = – 0.164; p ≤0.05).

Our results indicate that better cardiovascular fitness is correlated with fewer errors in the assessment of spatial working memory in older adults.

The 6MWT can be performed in clinical settings due to its low cost, easy application and reliable replication rates. Its use for monitoring health conditions, treatment and prevention strategies can be important as objective measures dedicated to minimizing age-related cognitive decline.