Boredom-proneness, loneliness, social engagement and depression and their association with cognitive function in older people: a population study.
In this study, we use data from a population survey of persons aged 65 and over living in the Irish Republic to examine the relationship of cognitive impairment, assessed using the Abbreviated Mental Test, with loneliness, boredom-proneness, social relations, and depression. Participants were randomly selected community-dwelling Irish people aged 65+ years. An Abbreviated Mental Test score of 8 or 9 out of 10 was classified as 'low normal', and a score of less than 8 as 'possible cognitive impairment'. We used clustering around latent variables analysis (CLV) to identify families of variables associated with reduced cognitive function. The overall prevalence of possible cognitive impairment was 14.7% (95% CI 12.4-17.3%). Low normal scores had a prevalence of 30.5% (95% CI 27.2-33.7%). CLV analysis identified three groups of predictors: 'Low social support' (widowed, living alone, low social support), 'personal cognitive reserve' (low social activity, no leisure exercise, never having married, loneliness and boredom-proneness), and 'sociodemographic cognitive reserve' (primary education, rural domicile). In multivariate analysis, both cognitive reserve clusters, but not social support, were independently associated with cognitive function. Loneliness and boredom-proneness are associated with reduced cognitive function in older age, and cluster with other factors associated with cognitive reserve. Both may have a common underlying mechanism in the failure to select and maintain attention on particular features of the social environment (loneliness) or the non-social environment (boredom-proneness).
Conroy
Ronan M
RM
Division of Population Health Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. rconroy@rcsi.ie
Golden
Jeannette
J
Jeffares
Isabelle
I
O'Neill
Desmond
D
McGee
Hannah
H
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D001887:Boredom; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007494:Ireland; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires