Potentially Cognitive Stimulating Activities and cognitive performance in middle‐age and older adults

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundLow education attainment is rampant in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Considering that education is a protective factor against dementia, engagement in activities promoting learning might be an alternative to the impact of classical schooling. Therefore, we aim to verify if potentially cognitive stimulating activities (PCSAs) could be an alternative to enhance and maintain cognitive performance in middle‐aged and older adults with diverse educational attainment.MethodWe analyzed baseline data from 7,568 participants of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI‐Brazil). We evaluated engagement in PCSAs through questions about currently attending the Open University for older adults program or attending free courses (foreign language, data processing or computer sciences, sewing/tailoring, cooking, or arts). A global cognition regression‐based norms z‐score was computed using episodic memory and fluency tests scores. We performed three linear regression models to verify the association between engagement in PCSAs with cognition. The first unadjusted model with only the PCSAs as a predictor of cognitive performance. The second model was adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex/gender, education, and race), and the third model was additionally adjusted for variables related to memory self‐ratings (current performance and perceived decline for the past two years), general health perception, depressive symptoms, and chronic diseases.ResultParticipants had a mean age of 61.5 (±8.98) years, a mean of 6.3 (±4.73) years of schooling, 53.5% of females and 54.9% of Black/Brown (Table 1). Engagement in PCSAs was a predictor of better cognitive performance in model 1 (β = 0.10, CI 95% 0.01;0.18), model 2 (β = 0.10, CI 95% 0.02;0.19) and model 3 (β = 0.10, CI 95% 0.03;0.21) (Table 2).ConclusionOur results suggest that better global cognition might be associated with some socially common and cheaper activities. Despite the study limitations, in a scenario where structured continuing education might not be readily available, these results indicate that PCSAs should be a target of future studies as a potential source of cognitive reserve.