Leisure activities and risk of vascular cognitive impairment in older adults

"Vascular cognitive impairment'' refers to cognitive impairment caused or associated with vascular risk factors, and encompasses a cognitive spectrum ranging from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. We examined the association of leisure activity participation to risk of developing VCI in the Bronx aging study. Over 21 years, 71 of the 401 participants who were free of dementia or VCI at entry developed VCI (49 participants with VCI without dementia). We derived Cognitive and Physical Activity Scales based on frequency of leisure activity participation. A 1-point increase on the Cognitive, but not Physical Activity Scale, was associated with lower risk of VCI (hazard ratio 0.931, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.895-0.970) in Cox analysis. Participation in cognitive but not physical leisure activities is associated with lower risk of VCI with or without dementia. Prospective studies and clinical trials are needed to define the causal role of cognitive leisure activities in influencing vascular risk for cognitive decline.