Abstract
There is evidence that social relationships may modify cognitive decline in older people. We examined the prospective association between social support and cognitive function among community-dwelling older people. Japanese adults recruited at health checkups in suburban towns were surveyed at baseline and one-year follow-up. Cognitive function was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Japanese version (MoCA-J). Social support from coresiding family, non-coresiding family, and neighbors/friends was assessed using self-administered questionnaires. Multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of social support on MoCA-J scores at follow-up. Data were analyzed from 121 older people (mean age (standard deviation): 73.86 (4.95) years). There was a positive association between social support exchanges with neighbors and friends and MoCA-J scores at follow-up after covariate adjustment (unstandardized β = 1.23, p = 0.006). Social support exchanges with coresiding family and non-coresiding family and relatives were not associated with MoCA-J scores at follow-up (coresiding family: Unstandardized β = 0.28, p = 0.813, non-coresiding family and relatives: Unstandardized β = 0.51, p = 0.238). The provision of emotional support to neighbors and friends had the largest effect on MoCA-J scores. Our findings suggest that social support exchanges with neighbors and friends are protective against cognitive decline.
Highlights
Dementia is a global health problem, as the number of people with dementia worldwide may exceed 82 million by 2030 [1]
The findings showed that the exchange of social support with neighbors and friends was positively associated with cognitive function at follow-up
Our results indicate that social support from both coresiding and non-coresiding family members was not significantly related to cognitive function
Summary
Dementia is a global health problem, as the number of people with dementia worldwide may exceed 82 million by 2030 [1]. Dementia and the decline of cognitive function greatly contribute to disability, health problems, and social care needs among older people [2]. Because there is no current cure for dementia, there is increasing interest in the identification of modifiable factors to delay or prevent dementia onset and the decline of cognitive function among older people [3]. Several epidemiological studies have suggested that rich social relationships are protective against cognitive decline and the onset of dementia [7,8,9,10,11,12,14].
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