1. Loneliness, Not Social Support, Is Associated with Cognitive Decline and Dementia Across Two Longitudinal Population-Based Cohorts
- Author
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Freak-Poli, Rosanne, Wagemaker, Nina, Wang, Rui, Lysen, Thom S, Ikram, M Arfan, Vernooij, Meike W, Dintica, Christina S, Vernooij-Dassen, Myrra, Melis, Rene JF, Laukka, Erika J, Fratiglioni, Laura, Xu, Weili, and Tiemeier, Henning
- Subjects
Acquired Cognitive Impairment ,Aging ,Alzheimer's Disease ,Brain Disorders ,Prevention ,Behavioral and Social Science ,Neurodegenerative ,Mental Health ,Depression ,Alzheimer's Disease including Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) ,Dementia ,Clinical Research ,Neurosciences ,Mental health ,Neurological ,Good Health and Well Being ,Aged ,Aged ,80 and over ,Cognitive Dysfunction ,Female ,Humans ,Loneliness ,Longitudinal Studies ,Male ,Mental Status and Dementia Tests ,Middle Aged ,Netherlands ,Prevalence ,Proportional Hazards Models ,Risk Factors ,Social Isolation ,Sweden ,cognition ,dementia ,depressive symptoms ,interpersonal relations ,loneliness ,social support ,Clinical Sciences ,Cognitive Sciences ,Neurology & Neurosurgery - Abstract
BackgroundPoor social health is likely associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia; however, studies show inconsistent results. Additionally, few studies separate social health components or control for mental health.ObjectiveTo investigate whether loneliness and social support are independently associated with cognitive decline and risk of dementia, and whether depressive symptoms confound the association.MethodsWe included 4,514 participants from the population-based Rotterdam Study (RS; aged 71±7SD years) followed up to 14 years (median 10.8, interquartile range 7.4-11.6), and 2,112 participants from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K; aged 72±10SD years) followed up to 10 years (mean 5.9±1.6SD). At baseline, participants were free of major depression and scored on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) ≥26 for RS and ≥25 for SNAC-K. We investigated loneliness, perceived social support, and structural social support (specifically marital status and number of children). In both cohorts, dementia was diagnosed and cognitive function was repeatedly assessed with MMSE and a global cognitive factor (g-factor).ResultsLoneliness was prospectively associated with a decline in the MMSE in both cohorts. Consistently, persons who were lonely had an increased risk of developing dementia (RS: HR 1.34, 95%CI 1.08-1.67; SNAC-K: HR 2.16, 95%CI 1.12-4.17). Adjustment for depressive symptoms and exclusion of the first 5 years of follow-up did not alter results. Neither perceived or structural social support was associated with cognitive decline or dementia risk.ConclusionLoneliness, not social support, predicted cognitive decline and incident dementia independently of depressive symptoms.
- Published
- 2022