Frequent social activity may help delay dementia by five years in old age, reported a new study. The findings were published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Previous research has found that higher levels of social activity are linked to less cognitive decline. In the current study, researchers estimated how levels of social activity relate to average age of dementia onset with the intention of better translating epidemiological research for public health communication.
In the study, researchers followed 1,923 dementia-free older adults with a mean age of around 80.4 years old for an average of 6.7 years. Participants underwent annual clinical evaluations for dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Social activity was assessed via a questionnaire. Over the follow-up period, 545 participants developed dementia, and 695 developed mild cognitive impairment.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the mean age of dementia onset for the least socially active participants was 87.7 years old, around 5 years earlier than the most socially active, who developed the condition at around 92.2 years old. A similar 5-year difference was found for mild cognitive impairment.
The researchers highlighted that economic research shows that a five-year delay in dementia onset could reduce dementia costs by 40% in the next 30 years and lead to $500,000 in lifetime healthcare savings for each person who would eventually develop the condition.
In their study, the researchers wrote that the mechanisms underlying the observed link remain unknown, although several commonly endorsed explanations exist. They noted, for example, that social activity likely reduces stress, which otherwise leads to loss of hippocampal neurons. They further noted that social activity can build cognitive resilience that buffers against dementia-related conditions.
Further investigation is needed to see whether interventions that increase late-life social activity can prevent or delay cognitive decline, said study author Bryan James, PhD, associate professor of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center, in a press release.
Sources: EurekAlert, Alzheimer’s and Dementia
