title: Marital status and living situation during a 5-year period are associated with a subsequent 10-year cognitive decline in older men: the FINE Study.
abstract: We investigate the association between marital status and living situation (over 5 years) on 10-year subsequent cognitive decline. The study population consisted of 1,042 men aged 70-89 years in 1990, who participated in the longitudinal Finland, Italy, the Netherlands Elderly (known as FINE) Study. We measured cognition by using the Mini-Mental State Examination, and we assessed marital status (married vs unmarried) and living situation (living with others vs living alone) with a standardized questionnaire. We performed repeated measurement analyses and made adjustments for age, education, country, smoking, alcohol, chronic diseases, marital status or living situation, and baseline cognition. Men who lost a partner, who were unmarried, who started to live alone, or who lived alone during the 5-year period had at least a two times stronger subsequent cognitive decline compared with men who were married or who lived with someone in those years.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Prevention and Health Services Research, PO Box 1, Internal Postal Code 101, 3720 BA, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Boukje.van.Gelder@rivm.nl
authors.forename: Boukje Maria
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: van Gelder
authors.forename: Marja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tijhuis
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalmijn
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giampaoli
authors.forename: Aulikki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nissinen
authors.forename: Daan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kromhout
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D007391:International Cooperation; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires