Abstract
Objective
The prevalence of low cognitive ability among older adults is a growing concern worldwide, particularly in developing countries like India. This study intended to examine the complex relationship between social capital and relevant factors affecting cognitive impairment among older adults in India using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) conducted in 2017–2018.
Methods
The LASI dataset included a nationally representative sample of 65,562 older adults aged 45 years and above. Cognitive health was measured using cognitive impairment index (CII), derived from the Michigan University of Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out to analyze the association between social capital and the decline of cognitive abilities. Additionally, dominance analysis was used to quantify the contribution of selected factors to cognitive impairment.
Results
The overall prevalence of low cognitive ability was 5.6% in the 45–59 age group and 15.0% in the 60 + age group. Individuals living with spouses have a higher social capital. The overall prevalence of cognitive impairment was higher in older adults aged 60 + . Further results showed that increased social capital reduces the risk of cognitive impairment. However, the dominance analysis showed that social capital had the highest contribution to the total explained variation for both age groups.
Conclusion
The findings of this study revealed the significant contribution of social capital on cognitive decline among individuals aged 45 years and above. Our study presents evidence-based results advocating a positive sense of social capital, healthy living arrangements, and physical activeness among older adults in India for better cognitive health. Further longitudinal research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms of this association for better management of cognitive impairments.
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Data Availability
The LASI Wave-1 data was collected by the nodal institution, the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. All data were de-identified. The de-identified version of the LASI Wave-1 data is publicly available to the researchers and policymakers upon formal request to the International Institute for Population Sciences.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, the nodal agency of LASI Wave 1, for providing the relevant data for this study.
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All authors have read and agreed to the manuscript. MP, PG, MB, and AA were responsible for the study design, carried out the statistical analysis, and helped to draft the manuscript. MP handles the data and interpretation and helps to draft the manuscript. MB, PG, and AA have the main role in drafting and reviewing the manuscript.
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This study is based on a secondary dataset survey. Further, no patient could be identified or contacted for this study, and individual researchers required no ethics approval to undertake this study. Informed consent was obtained from the study participants during the interview. The LASI data was collected under the approved ethical consideration of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines (please refer to the document National ethical guidelines for biomedical and health research involving human participants link to the document-ICMR_Ethical_Guidelines_2017.pdf).
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Pandey, M., Anand, A., Goswami, P. et al. Examining the Association Between Social Capital and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults in India: Evidence from LASI, 2017–2018. Glob Soc Welf (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-023-00287-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-023-00287-6