Social connections and risk of incident mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and mortality in 13 longitudinal cohort studies of ageing.

Abstract

International audienceIntroduction: Previous meta-analyses have linked social connections and mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and mortality. However, these used aggregate data from North America and Europe and examined a limited number of social connection markers. Methods: We used individual participant data (N = 39271, M age = 70.67 (40-102), 58.86% female, M education = 8.43 years, M follow-up = 3.22 years) from 13 longitudinal ageing studies. A two-stage meta-analysis of Cox regression models examined the association between social connection markers with our primary outcomes. Results: We found associations between good social connections structure and quality and lower risk of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI); between social structure and function and lower risk of incident dementia and mortality. Only in Asian cohorts, being married/in a relationship was associated with reduced risk of dementia, and having a confidante was associated with reduced risk of dementia and mortality. Discussion: Different aspects of social connections-structure, function, and qualityare associated with benefits for healthy aging internationally