Social Support, Social Strain, and Cognitive Function Among Community-Dwelling U.S. Chinese Older Adults

Abstract There is an increasing awareness of the importance of oral health and its associated risk factors among older adults. This symposium includes four papers that address cognitive function, social support and oral health problems and symptoms among older adults in the U.S. and China. Lu and his colleagues examined the reciprocal relationship between cognitive function and complete tooth loss Chinese adults age 50+ using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal study. The results show that there is a reciprocal relationship between these two indicators. The second paper used the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE) and examined the associations between tooth/gums symptoms and changes in cognitive function in Chinese older immigrants. The results reveal that having teeth symptoms was associated with a decline in cognitive function. Using the same PINE data, the third paper examined the association between different characteristics of social relationships and the number of oral health problems among U.S. older Chinese adults. Wu and her colleagues conducted a partner-assisted pilot intervention to improve oral health for community-dwelling older adults with either mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. The results of this 6-month intervention show that persons in the treatment group had more improvement in oral hygiene than those in the control group. Findings from these four papers illustrate that cognitive function, social support, and oral health are interrelated. This symposium highlights the importance of improving cognitive health, social support, and oral health for middle-aged and older adults.

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Social Networks, Community Engagement, and Cognitive Impairment among Community-Dwelling Chinese Older Adults

Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra ◽

10.1159/000502090 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 330-337

Author(s):

Jinlei Li ◽

Zijuan Wang ◽

Zhiwei Lian ◽

Zhikai Zhu ◽

Yuanli Liu

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Networks ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Social Network ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Community Engagement ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Network Characteristics ◽

Community Activities

Aims: To examine the association of social networks and community engagement with cognitive impairment among community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Methods: From November 2017 to May 2018, we selected 1,115 elderly individuals from 3 Chinese communities (Beijing, Hefei, and Lanzhou) using a random-cluster sampling method, and recorded data on demographics, social network characteristics, community activities, and cognitive function. The odds ratios (ORs) of these associations were adjusted for potential confounders in logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 25.7% (n = 287). An adequate social network (OR 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33–0.91) and enough social support from friends (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.29–0.62) were negatively associated with cognitive impairment. Family support was not significantly associated with cognitive impairment (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.34–1.21). Taking part in elderly group travel, communication with others using WeChat, and community activities such as Tai Chi and walking together were negatively associated with cognitive impairment. Conclusion: Social network characteristics and community engagement were found to be related to cognitive function among community-dwelling Chinese elderly adults.

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Social Support and Mortality in Community-Dwelling Chinese Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Frailty

Risk Management and Healthcare Policy ◽

10.2147/rmhp.s296018 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol Volume 14 ◽

pp. 1583-1593

Author(s):

Lijun Fan ◽

Shiyuan Wang ◽

Hui Xue ◽

Yue Ding ◽

Jingwen Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Mediating Role

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ORAL HEALTH AND COGNITION AMONG U.S. COMMUNITY-DWELLING CHINESE OLDER ADULTS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1269 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S350-S350

Author(s):

Darina V Petrovsky ◽

Bei Wu ◽

Weiyu Mao ◽

XinQi Dong

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Future Research ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Health Related ◽

Global Cognition ◽

Rate Of Decline

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between tooth/gums symptoms and changes in cognitive function. We used data from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago, a two-wave epidemiological study of 2,713 U.S. Chinese older adults. We selected self-reported oral (tooth and gum) symptoms as independent variables. We measured global function and three cognitive domains: episodic memory, executive function and working memory. Adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, participants who reported having teeth symptoms at baseline, experienced their global cognition and episodic memory decrease (both p<0.05). Participants who reported having teeth symptoms at baseline, experienced a faster rate of decline in global cognition for every additional year. However, this effect disappeared once we adjusted for all covariates. We found no significant relationship between baseline gum symptoms and change of cognitive function. Future research directions, clinical and policy implications will be discussed.

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Exploring the Mediating Effects of Cognitive Function, Social Support, Activities of Daily Living and Depression in the Relationship between Age and Frailty among Community-Dwelling Elderly

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182312543 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (23) ◽

pp. 12543

Author(s):

Lin-Yen Chen ◽

Tzu-Jung Fang ◽

Yu-Chih Lin ◽

Hsiu-Fen Hsieh

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Daily Living ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Mediating Effects ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

The Relationship

With 16.15% of its total population aged 65 or above, Taiwan is already an aging society. Frailty is a natural consequence of aging, which may decrease physical strength and deteriorate physiological functioning. We examined the mediating effects of cognitive function, social support, activities of daily living (ADL), and depression in the relationship between age and frailty in older people living in the community. This cross-sectional study used a structured questionnaire to collect data from a convenience sample of 200 pre-frail to mildly frail older adults in southern Taiwan. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis, with data collected from July to November 2020. ADL mediated the relationship between age and frailty, while cognitive function also mediated the relationship between age and frailty, indicating that ADL and cognitive function were significant determinants of frailty. The path from age to frailty was significant, indicating that age was a significant determinant of frailty. The standardized total effect of age affected frailty through the mediating roles of ADL and cognitive function. Age, depression, ADL, and cognitive function explained 59% of the variance in frailty among older adults. ADL and cognitive function are significant mediators of frailty among older adults.

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Art Attendance and Change in Cognitive Function Among U.S. Community-Dwelling Chinese Older Adults

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/07334648211017339 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073346482110173

Author(s):

Darina V. Petrovsky ◽

Bei Wu ◽

Nancy A. Hodgson ◽

XinQi Dong

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Executive Function ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Rate Of Change ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Art Activities ◽

The Relationship

Engaging in leisure activities that are cognitively simulating and enjoyable may be protective against cognitive decline in older adults; yet, few studies have examined this topic. We used two waves of data from the Population Study of Chinese Elderly and ran mixed-effects regression models to examine the relationship between baseline art activity attendance (including attending museum, musical arts, or both) and change in cognitive function (global, episodic memory, working memory, and executive function) among 2,703 older U.S. Chinese adults. We found that compared with older adults who did not attend any art activities, those who reported attending both art activities experienced a slower rate of change in episodic memory (estimate = −0.07; SE = 0.03; p = .01) and executive function (estimate = −0.06; SE = .03; p = .04). Our study findings point to the importance of attending art-based culture events among U.S. Chinese older adults.

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Correlates of Perceived Social Support in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e581872013-001 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Nancy Dorr ◽

Richard T. Pulice ◽

Amanda Loitsch

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

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Do Communication Patterns Affect the Association between Cognitive Impairment and Hearing Loss among Older Adults in Vietnam?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18041603 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 1603

Author(s):

Tran Dai Tri Han ◽

Keiko Nakamura ◽

Kaoruko Seino ◽

Vo Nu Hong Duc ◽

Thang Van Vo

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Hearing Loss ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Vision Loss ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Communication Devices ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults

This study examined the prevalence of cognitive impairment among older adults in central Vietnam and the roles of communication (with or without communication devices) in the association between cognitive impairment and hearing loss. This cross-sectional study was performed on 725 randomly selected community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years from Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam. Participants attended a face-to-face survey. Sociodemographic characteristics, social interaction with or without communication devices, health status and cognitive function using the Mini-Mental State Examination were reported. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to quantify the association between hearing loss and cognitive function by frequency of communication with and without devices. Mild and severe cognitive impairment had prevalence rates of 23.6% and 19.3%, respectively. Cognitive impairment was more prevalent among older adults with hearing-loss, vision loss and difficulties with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). The association between hearing loss and cognitive impairment was not significant when older adults had frequent communication with others using devices. This study presented the relatively high prevalence of cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults in Vietnam. Frequent communication using devices attenuated the association between hearing loss and cognitive impairment.

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Social isolation, rather than loneliness, is associated with cognitive decline in older adults: the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291720001026 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Bin Yu ◽

Andrew Steptoe ◽

Yongjie Chen ◽

Xiaohua Jia

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Episodic Memory ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Mental Status ◽

Chinese Older Adults ◽

Confounding Variables

Abstract Background Social isolation and loneliness have each been associated with cognitive decline, but most previous research is limited to Western populations. This study examined the relationships of social isolation and loneliness on cognitive function among Chinese older adults. Methods This study used two waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and analyses were restricted to those respondents aged 50 and older. Social isolation, loneliness, and cognitive function were measured at baseline. Follow-up measures on cognitive function were obtained for 7761 participants (mean age = 60.97, s.d. = 7.31; male, 50.8%). Lagged dependent variable models adjusted for confounding factors were used to evaluate the association between baseline isolation, loneliness, and cognitive function at follow-up. Results Loneliness was significantly associated with the cognitive decline at follow-up (episodic memory: β = −0.03, p < 0.01; mental status: β = −0.03, p < 0.01) in the partially adjusted models. These associations became insignificant after additional confounding variables (chronic diseases, health behaviors, disabilities, and depressive symptoms) were taken into account (all p > 0.05). By contrast, social isolation was significantly associated with decreases in all cognitive function measures at follow-up (episodic memory: β = −0.05, p < 0.001; mental status: β = −0.03, p < 0.01) even after controlling for loneliness and all confounding variables. Conclusions Social isolation is associated with cognitive decline in Chinese older adults, and the relationships are independent of loneliness. These findings expand our knowledge about the links between social relationships and the cognitive function in non-Western populations.

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