P3‐157: AIBL ACTIVE: A randomized controlled trial of physical activity to delay the progression of white matter hyperintensities on MRI in older adults at risk of cognitive decline

Abstract

andTaiwanese). Thuswe performedan epidemiology study inTaiwan to study the relationship between bilingualism and dementia.Methods: In this study, we investigate the language profile, MMSE, AD8 of 499 people in a local community (Taishan) of Taiwan. People in Taishan who are older than 70 years old were recruited since February, 2011 to December, 2011. 73 (14.6%) of them are bilinguals, 426 (85.4%) are monolinguals. Clinical neurologist confirms the diagnosis of dementia in all subjects. Results: The results reveal no significant difference in dementia prevalence between bilingual (16.4%) and monolingual (15.0%) population. But age of bilinguals is older than monolinguals (78.4 v.s. 73.4). Bilinguals show significant higher MMSE results (mean: 24.5) compare to monolinguals (mean: 22.7). Conclusions: Although the dementia prevalence didn’t show significant difference between the 2 groups, there is 5 years difference between age of bilinguals and monolinguals in this study. This suggests s that bilingualism may still have some protective effects on dementia. Besides, bilingualism itself does have advantage on MMSE scores, especially in sub-items of attention and constructional praxis. More research works have to be done to demonstrate the meaning and possible implication of language effects on dementia.