Abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have found that social activities are beneficial for the reduction of cognitive decline (CD) in the elderly. However, knowledge regarding the types of social activities that reduce CD in later life is limited. The aim of this study is to examine which type of social activities reduce CD 4 years later among young-old (Y-O) and old-old (O-O) adults.MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis using data from cognitively intact adults 65 years of age or older who participated in the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). Cognitive function was assessed using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We computed CD between 2008 and 2012 by subtracting the Wave 4 MMSE score from the Wave 2 MMSE score. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted regarding the effects of social activities on CD after adjusting for age, sex, education, income, marital status, activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), chronic diseases, quality of life, depressive symptom, change in depressive symptom, and cognitive functioning at baseline.ResultsSubjects who participated in senior citizen clubs or senior centers at baseline had a lower risk of CD 4 years later than those who did not in Y-O adults. Frequent contact with offspring by phone or letters was associated with reduced CD in O-O adults. Frequent face-to-face contact with offspring was positively associated with CD in O-O adults. Participating in two or more formal social activities was associated with reduced CD compared with nonparticipation in O-O adults.ConclusionEncouraging older adults to participate in senior citizen clubs or to have frequent contacts with adult children by phone or letters may help reduce CD in later life among older adults. Participation in a variety of formal social activities may also have a beneficial effect on preventing CD in older adults.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12877-016-0343-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Previous studies have found that social activities are beneficial for the reduction of cognitive decline (CD) in the elderly
The aim of this study is to investigate which types of social activity reduce cognitive decline 4 years later among young-old (Y-O) and old-old (O-O) adults using data from a longitudinal study of a community-dwelling Korean population
In formal social activities, subjects who participated in senior citizen clubs or senior centers at baseline had a lower risk of CD 4 years later than those who did not in Y-O adults and total sample (Y-O adults, B = − 0.80, standard error (SE) = 0.40, p = 0.045; total sample, B = − 0.95, SE = 0.37, p = 0.012)
Summary
Previous studies have found that social activities are beneficial for the reduction of cognitive decline (CD) in the elderly. Knowledge regarding the types of social activities that reduce CD in later life is limited. The aim of this study is to examine which type of social activities reduce CD 4 years later among young-old (Y-O) and old-old (O-O) adults. The prevalence of dementia increases with age, with a risk of the disease doubling every five years after 65 [2] Both cognitive impairment and social disengagement are prevalent concomitants of old age [3]. Previous research has shown that greater participation in social activities can reduce CD in the elderly by providing intellectual and emotional stimulation [13,14,15,16,17]. Social activity is widely believed to guard against CD in later life, knowledge regarding the types of protective social activity is limited
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