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Objectives To determine whether music engagement influences middle-aged and older adults' performance on episodic memory tasks. Method Secondary data analysis of a sample (N = 4,592) of cognitively healthy adults from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study was used for this study. Multivariable regression models were used to analyze the cross-sectional differences in performance on tasks of episodic memory between participants who listened to music (n = 3,659) or sang or played an instrument (n = 989). Results On average, participants recalled 10.3 words out of a possible 20. Regression analyses showed that both listening to music and singing or playing an instrument were independently associated with significantly better episodic memory. Discussion The findings provide the first population-based evidence that music engagement is associated with better episodic memory among middle-aged and older adults. Future studies should examine whether the relationship between music engagement and episodic memory can be replicated in other populations and that the association persists in longitudinal studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background the relationship between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and adverse outcomes among the older people remains controversial. Objective to further clarify the association between admission LDL-C levels and cardiovascular mortality (CVM) among oldest old individuals (≥80 years) with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Design a prospective cohort study. Setting two-centre. Subjects a consecutive sample of 1,224 oldest old individuals with AMI admitted to Beijing FuWai and Shenzhen FuWai hospitals. Methods all individuals were subdivided according to baseline LDL-C levels (<1.8, 1.8–2.6 and ≥ 2.6 mmol/l) and further stratified by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations (<10 and ≥10 mg/l). The primary outcome was CVM. The time from admission to the occurrence of CVM or the last follow-up was analysed in Kaplan–Meier and Cox analyses. Results the median age of the overall population was 82 years. During an average of 24.5 months' follow-up, 299 cardiovascular deaths occurred. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that LDL-C < 1.8 mmol/l group had the highest CVM among oldest old individuals with AMI. Multivariate Cox regression analysis further revealed that compared with those with LDL-C levels <1.8 mmol/l, subjects with LDL-C levels ≥2.6 mmol/l (hazard ratio: 0.67, 95% confidence interval: 0.46–0.98) had significantly lower risk of CVM, especially in those with high hsCRP levels. Moreover, when categorising according to LDL-C and hsCRP together, data showed that individuals with low LDL-C and high hsCRP levels had the highest CVM. Conclusions LDL-C < 1.8 mmol/l was associated with a high CVM after AMI in oldest old individuals, especially when combined with high hsCRP levels, which may need to be confirmed by randomised controlled trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]