Abstract
BackgroundActive engagement in intellectually enriching activities reportedly lowers the risk of cognitive decline; however, few studies have examined this association, including engagement in traditional cultural activities. This study aimed to elucidate the types of cultural engagement associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment.MethodsWe examined the association between cultural engagement and cognitive impairment using Cox proportional hazards models in a cohort of 44,985 participants (20,772 males and 24,213 females) aged 65 years or older of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study from 2010 to 2016. Intellectual activities (eg, reading books, magazines, and/or newspapers), creative activities (eg, crafts and painting), and traditional cultural activities (eg, poetry composition [haiku], calligraphy, and tea ceremony/flower arrangement) were included among cultural engagement activities.ResultsOver a follow-up period of 6 years, incident cognitive disability was observed in 4,198 respondents (9.3%). After adjusting for potential confounders, such as depression and social support, intellectual activities were protectively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR] for those who read and stated that reading was their hobby, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66–0.85 and HR for those who read but did not consider reading a hobby, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.65–0.80). Engagement in creative activities was also significantly correlated with lower risk of cognitive impairment (crafts: HR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.62–0.81 and painting: HR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66–0.96). The association between traditional cultural activities and the risk of cognitive impairment was not statistically significant.ConclusionsEngagement in intellectual and creative activities may be associated with reduced risk of dementia.
Highlights
Societies experiencing rapid population aging are grappling with the parallel rise in cases of dementia
Since existing studies have shown associations between such activities and dementia or cognitive impairment,[9,10,13] we focused on the concept of cultural engagement in this study
We focused on three specific aspects: intellectual activities, creative activities, and traditional cultural activities
Summary
Societies experiencing rapid population aging are grappling with the parallel rise in cases of dementia. There has been a rapid growth in the number of people with dementia in high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries.[1]. The estimated number of people aged 65 or older stood at 35.89 million as of October 2019, accounting for 28.4% of the nation’s total population,[2] with both figures hitting record highs. The share of the older population was the highest among 263 countries and regions in the world.[3] According to a government report, in 2012, one in seven older adults aged 65 and above had dementia, with this figure estimated to reach one in five people in 2025.4. Active engagement in intellectually enriching activities reportedly lowers the risk of cognitive decline; few studies have examined this association, including engagement in traditional cultural activities. This study aimed to elucidate the types of cultural engagement associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment
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