Moderate alcohol consumption as risk factor for adverse brain outcomes and cognitive decline: longitudinal cohort study

Background: How specific activities influence cognitive decline among different age groups, especially the late middle-aged and the early old, remains inadequately studied. Objective: To examine the association between specific activities with trajectories of cognitive functions in different age groups in China. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was conducted based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Mixed effects growth models were applied to analyze the association between specific activities and cognitive functions. Results: Interacting with friends (infrequent: β= 0.13, confidence interval [CI] = 0.03 to 0.22; daily: β= 0.19, CI = 0.09 to 0.28), playing Mah-jong or other games (infrequent: β= 0.12, CI = 0.02 to 0.22; daily:β= 0.26, CI = 0.10 to 0.42), infrequent providing help to others (β= 0.24, CI = 0.11 to 0.37), and going to a sport (infrequent: β= 0.31, CI = 0.08 to 0.54); daily: β= 0.22, CI = 0.05 to 0.38) are significantly associated with participants’ memory. Infrequently playing Mah-jong or other games (β= 0.30, CI = 0.17 to 0.43) and daily sports (β= 0.24, CI = 0.03 to 0.45) are significantly associated with better mental status. Effect of each activity varies among population of different age, education level, gender, and residence. Conclusion: This study identifies four social activities that are associated with better cognitive functions, and provides a comprehensive, in-depth understanding on the specific protective effect of each activity among different subgroups.

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Specific Activities and the Trajectories of Cognitive Decline among Middle-aged and Older Adults: A Five-year Longitudinal Cohort Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-91496/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Bingyu Li ◽

Jiefeng Bi ◽

Chang Wei ◽

Feng Sha

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Cohort Study ◽

Cognitive Decline ◽

Mental Status ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Age Groups ◽

Longitudinal Cohort Study ◽

Longitudinal Cohort ◽

Card Games ◽

Specific Activities

Abstract Background: Emerging evidence indicates that leisure activities are associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment and dementia among the older adults, but how specific activities influence cognitive decline among different age groups, especially the late middle-aged and the early old, remains inadequately studied. This study aims to examine association between specific activities with trajectories of cognitive functions in different age groups in China. Methods: This longitudinal cohort study included 14,161 Chinese individuals aged 45 years or above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Data were collected bi-annually from 2011 to 2015. Cognitive function, including memory and mental status, was measured by Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status (TICS) battery. Mixed effects growth models were applied to analyse the association between specific activities and cognitive functions.Results: Four activities, respectively interacting with friends, playing Mah-jong or other card games, going to a sport and providing help to others, were found to be significantly associated with participants’ cognitive functioning. All four activities are associated with better memory. Infrequently playing Mah-jong or other card games and daily sports are significantly associated with better mental status. In addition, specific effect of each activity varies among population of different age, education level, gender and residence. Conclusions: This study identifies four social activities that are associated with better cognitive functions, and provides a comprehensive, in-depth understanding on the specific protective effect of each activity among different subgroups. These findings have practical implications for feasible and personalized cognitive health interventions.

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