Abstract
BackgroundUrban neighbourhood environments may impact older adults’ cognitive health. However, longitudinal studies examining key environmental correlates of cognitive health are lacking. We estimated cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of neighbourhood built and natural environments and ambient air pollution with multiple cognitive health outcomes in Australian urban dwellers aged 60+ years. MethodsThe study included 1160 participants of the PATH Through Life study (60+ cohort) who were followed up for 12 years (four assessments; 2001/02 to 2013/15) and with data on socio-demographics, health, cognitive functions and diagnoses, and full residential address. Neighbourhood environmental features encompassed population and street-intersection densities, non-commercial land use mix, transit points, presence of blue space, percentages of commercial land, parkland and tree cover, and annual average PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations. All exposures except for tree cover were assessed at two time points. Generalised additive mixed models estimated associations of person-level average, and within-person changes in, exposures with cognitive functions. Multi-state hidden Markov models estimated the associations of neighbourhood attributes with transitions to/from mild cognitive impairment (MCI). ResultsDense, destination-rich neighbourhoods were associated with a lower likelihood of transition to MCI and reversal to no MCI. Positive cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of non-commercial land use mix, street intersection density and percentage of commercial land were observed especially with global cognition and processing speed. While access to parkland and blue spaces were associated with a lower risk of transition to MCI, the findings related to cognitive functions were mixed and supportive of an effect of parkland on verbal memory only. Higher levels of PM2.5 and NO2 were consistently associated with steeper declines and/or decreases in cognitive functions and worse cognitive states across time. ConclusionTo support cognitive health in ageing populations, neighbourhoods need to provide an optimal mix of environmental complexity, destinations and access to the natural environment and, at the same time, minimise ambient air pollution.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.