| Summary: | 碩士 === 長庚大學 === 醫務管理學系 === 103 === Objectives: This study examined the association of social network and social engagement with cognitive impairment in older adults in Taiwan.
Methods: We analyzed data from a nationally representative sample of older adults aged 65 years and above (n=2904), who participated in the 2009 National Health Interview Survey. In this cross-sectional study, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive function. We evaluated the social networks involving the network size and frequency of contacting with the relatives including children, siblings, others and neighbors and friends. We evaluated the social engagements including being volunteers and attendance at church, clubs, other organizations. A total of 2572 participants who had complete data for social network and social engagement and cognitive function were eligible for analysis. The Chi-Square test and multiple logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between social network and social engagement and cognitive impairment.
Results: Overall, the prevalence of cognitive impairment was 26.8%. After adjustment for age, education, activities daily living disability, instrumental activities daily living disability, depressive symptoms, and physical activity, less participation in social activities were associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment (OR=1.59; 95%CI=[1.14, 2.22]). Social network did not significantly associate with cognitive impairment after controlling for other factors.
Conclusions: This study indicated that older age, instrumental activities daily living disability, and less participation in social activities were significantly risk factors for cognitive impairment among community dwelling older adults in Taiwan. These findings highlight the critical importance of preventing instrumental activities daily living disability, and increasing participation in social activities in order to reduce cognitive impairment risk in older adults.
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