Social network characteristics and cognition in middle-aged and older adults
Authors
Holtzman, Ronald E.Rebok, George W.
Saczynski, Jane S.
Kouzis, Anthony C.
Wilcox Doyle, Kathryn
Eaton, William W.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Meyers Primary Care InstituteDepartment of Quantitative Health Sciences
Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2004-12-04Keywords
AgedAged, 80 and over
Cognition Disorders
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mass Screening
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Severity of Illness Index
*Social Support
Biostatistics
Epidemiology
Geriatrics
Health Services Research
Mental and Social Health
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We examined the relationship between social network characteristics and global cognitive status in a community-based sample of 354 adults aged 50+ and with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores of 28+ at baseline. Multivariate analyses indicated that interaction in larger social networks related to better maintenance of MMSE scores and reduced odds of decline to population-based lower quartile MMSE scores at follow-up 12 years later. At follow-up, higher levels of interpersonal activity (more frequent contacts in larger social networks) and exposure to emotional support independently related positively to MMSE. The findings suggest that interaction in larger social networks is a marker that portends less cognitive decline, and that distinct associational paths link interpersonal activity and emotional support to cognitive function.Source
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2004 Nov;59(6):P278-84. doi 10.1093/geronb/59.6.P278DOI
10.1093/geronb/59.6.P278Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/47649PubMed ID
15576855Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/geronb/59.6.P278