Cognitive activity levels associated with dementia risk in older adults with social frailty: A longitudinal study

This study investigated the association between the level of engagement in cognitive activities and the risk of incident dementia among community-dwelling older adults with social frailty.

This prospective cohort study included 2725 adults aged 60 or more without dementia at baseline.

Social frailty was based on five items: living alone, going out less frequently than in the previous year, not visiting friends, not feeling useful to family and friends, and not conversing with someone every day. Participants meeting two or more of these criteria were defined as having social frailty. Cognitive activities comprised 12 items according to the frequency of implementation. Four groups were created by combining social frailty status and cognitive activity levels. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the relationship between the combination of social frailty and cognitive activity and the incidence of dementia at 60 months.

Compared with the group without social frailty and with high engagement in cognitive activity, the group with social frailty and low engagement had a significantly higher risk of dementia. However, the former group showed a reduction in the risk of dementia.

High engagement in cognitive activities was found to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia, even in the context of social frailty. Cognitive activities that are feasible for solitary execution have the potential to benefit older adults experiencing challenges with social participation.