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Social network and the risk for developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia among older adults

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Abstract

Background

This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations between social network (SN) and the risk of lower cognitive function, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia among cognitively normal individuals 65 years and older.

Methods

Data from the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES) Reykjavik Study on 2816 participants (aged 65 to 96 years) were used to examine the associations using multiple logistic and linear regression models. SN included questions on frequency of contact with family and friends as well as information on marital status, resulting in a score ranging from 0 (poor social network) to 3 (good social network). Cognitive function outcomes included the speed of processing (SP), executive function (EF) and memory function (MF). MCI and dementia were diagnosed using a detailed assessment according to international guidelines.

Results

At baseline 0.5, 7.0, 41.7 and 50.8% reported a score of 0, 1, 2 and 3, respectively. During a mean follow-up time of 5.2 years, 7.1% (n = 188) of cognitively intact participants developed MCI and 3.0% (n = 79) developed dementia. Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that participants who had low SN were significantly more likely to have declines in MF (β = − 0.533, P = 0.014) compared to high SN. Social networks were not independently associated with the decline of SP and EF during follow-up. According to fully adjusted models using logistic regression, SN was significantly associated with incidence risk of MCI (OR = 2.030, P = 0.014 and OR = 1.847 P = 0.001). These associations were largely independent of other lifestyle factors, depression and genetic disposition.

Conclusions

Community-dwelling older adults who have poor social networks have a higher risk of declining memory function as well as a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment than older adults who have a higher social network. This study included numbers of relevant covariates in the study analysis, thereby significantly contributing to the literature on cognitive aging.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Foundation of St. Josef’s Hospital in cooperation with The Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, National University Hospital of Iceland. The AGES-RS study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute of Aging and the National Eye Institute, ZIAEY00401).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Icelandic Gerontological Research Center, The National University Hospital of Iceland, Tungata 26, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Hrafnhildur Eymundsdottir, Alfons Ramel & Milan Chang

  2. Faculty of Social Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Hrafnhildur Eymundsdottir & Sigurveig Sigurdardottir

  3. Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Alfons Ramel

  4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Pálmi V. Jonsson & Vilmundur Gudnason

  5. Department of Geriatrics, The National University Hospital of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Pálmi V. Jonsson

  6. Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland

    Vilmundur Gudnason

  7. Laboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Lenore Launer

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  1. Hrafnhildur Eymundsdottir
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Contributions

HE, SS and MC: contributed to the design and conceptualization of the study. HE, MC and AR: contributed to the analysis and interpretation of the data. HE: drafted the manuscript. Supervision was provided by MC and SS. All authors provided critical revisions and acceptance of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hrafnhildur Eymundsdottir.

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Eymundsdottir, H., Sigurdardottir, S., Ramel, A. et al. Social network and the risk for developing mild cognitive impairment and dementia among older adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 34, 2155–2163 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02150-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-022-02150-8

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