Non‐economic aspects of social deprivation and cognitive health in old age

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundIt is well established that socioeconomic disadvantages such as low income are associated with a higher risk for poor cognitive health in old age. Under the concept of social deprivation, researchers have recently started exploring a broader concept of social embedding including, for instance, unemployment and asset ownership. However, little known of other characteristics of social deprivation and to what extent they are associated with cognitive health.MethodParticipants of the multicenter DZNE Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study (DELCODE) were asked to complete a questionnaire on four characteristics of social deprivation, (1) Conditions of the living environment, (2) Regional accessibility, (3) Neighborhood support, (4) Family social support. A total of N = 296, 48.3% male, M = 70.8 (SD = 5.8) years old, n = 97 cognitive healthy, n = 161 subjective cognitive decline (SCD), n = 38 mild cognitive impairment (MCI)) returned the questionnaire. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we excluded questions with non‐significant loadings and with coefficients <0.5. The latent scores were saved and a sum score was calculated. The scores were categorized into tertiles (high, medium, low).ResultResults from logistic regression (adjusted for age, gender, education, family status, depression, diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterol, cerebrovascular diseases, heart disease, and body mass index) indicated that those with low (compared to high) social deprivation had a significantly reduced risk for SCD (OR = 0.38, p = 0.006) and MCI (OR = 0.25, p = 0.018). Of the individual factor scores, only Neighborhood support was significantly associated with SCD (OR = 0.48, p = 0.030) and MCI (OR = 0.32, p = 0.049).ConclusionOur findings suggest that social deprivation and, in particularly, neighborhood support such as visits, helping out, and receiving/giving advice can play an important role in cognitive health in old age. Accordingly, individuals with a high risk for age‐related cognitive impairment might benefit from being embedded in a supportive neighborhood.