Friday, January 20, 2023

Social isolation and 9-year dementia risk in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States

 

Well I'm definitely not feeling socially isolated, currently in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador for another 10 days with a couple of friends. A week in Paris last month.

Social isolation and 9-year dementia risk in community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries in the United States

First published: 11 January 2023

Funding information: National Institute on Aging, Grant/Award Numbers: 1F31AG072746, 1P30AG066587-01, 3K24AG056578-02S1, 5R03AG064253, K02AG059140, K23 AG064036, K24 AG056578, P30AG059298; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Grant/Award Number: U54MD000214; Secunda Family Foundation

Abstract

Background

Social isolation can influence whether older adults develop dementia. We examine the association between social isolation and incident dementia among older adults in a nationally representative sample of community dwelling older adults in the United States (U.S.). We also investigate whether this association varies by race and ethnicity.

Methods

Data (N = 5022) come from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a longitudinal and nationally representative cohort of older adults in the U.S. A composite measure of social isolation was used to classify older adults as socially isolated or not socially isolated at baseline. Demographic and health factors were measured at baseline via self-report. Dementia was measured at each round of data collection. Discrete-time proportional hazard time-to-event models were used to assess the association between social isolation and incident dementia over 9 years (2011–2020).

Results

Of 5022 older adults, 1172 (23.3%) were socially isolated, and 3850 (76.7%) were not socially isolated. Adjusting for demographic and health factors, being socially isolated (vs. not socially isolated) was associated with a 1.28 (95% CI: 1.10–1.49) higher hazard of incident dementia over 9 years. There was no statistically significant difference by race and ethnicity.

Conclusion

Social isolation among older adults is associated with greater dementia risk. Elucidating the pathway by which social isolation impacts dementia may offer meaningful insights for the development of novel solutions to prevent or ameliorate dementia across diverse racial and ethnic groups.

Key points

  • Among older adults in the United States, social isolation is common (1 in 4 adults experience social isolation) and associated with higher hazard of incident dementia over 9 years.
  • There were no observed differences in the association between social isolation and dementia by race and ethnicity.

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