title: English Longitudinal Study of Aging: can Internet/E-mail use reduce cognitive decline?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cognitive decline is a major risk factor for disability, dementia, and death. The use of Internet/E-mail, also known as digital literacy, might decrease dementia incidence among the older population. The aim was to investigate whether digital literacy might be associated with decreased cognitive decline in older adulthood.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging cohort with 6,442 participants aged 50-89 years, followed for 8 years, with baseline cognitive testing and four additional time points. The main outcome variable was the relative percentage change in delayed recall from a 10-word-list learning task across five separate measurement points. In addition to digital literacy, socioeconomic variables, including wealth and education, comorbidities, and baseline cognitive function were included in predictive models. The analysis used Generalized Estimating Equations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher education, no functional impairment, fewer depressive symptoms, no diabetes, and Internet/E-mail use predicted better performance in delayed recall.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Digital literacy may help reduce cognitive decline among persons aged between 50 and 89 years.
authors.affiliation: Health Academic Unit, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil. andre.xavier@unisul.br.
authors.forename: André J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: d'Orsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and.
authors.forename: Cesar M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Sciences Unit, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orrell
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and.
authors.forename: Panayotes
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demakakos
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and.
authors.forename: Jane P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Biddulph
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Marmot
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression; D004522:Educational Status; D034742:Electronic Mail; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Ageing.; Cognitive decline; Cohort study; Digital literacy; Prevention