Association between family functioning and cognitive impairment among Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians

We explored the association between family functioning and cognitive impairment in the very elderly aged 90-108 years.

The present study comprised data from subjects included in the 2005 Project of Longevity and Aging in Dujiangyan, China. Sociodemographic and family functioning data were collected, and cognitive function was assessed in all subjects using the Mini-Mental State Examination.

Data from 699 Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians were included. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 62.8%. The prevalence of family dysfunction was 52.2%, including 8.6% severe and 43.6% moderate dysfunction. There were significant differences among individuals with different family functioning level with regard to cognitive function scores (P = 0.005) or cognitive impairment prevalence (P = 0.012). Subjects with cognitive impairment had lower family functioning scores than those without cognitive impairment (P = 0.004). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that family functioning scores were correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination scores (r = 0.13, P = 0.001). Multiple logistic regressions showed that severe family dysfunction was a risk factor for cognitive impairment. The effect remained after adjusting for sociodemographic status, life habits and metabolic indicators.

Family functioning was related to cognitive impairment among Chinese nonagenarians and centenarians. We found that the higher the family functioning scores, the higher the Mini-Mental State Examination scores. Severe family dysfunction was associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment.