title: Marital Status, Lifestyle and Dementia: A Nationwide Survey in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence of an association between lifestyle and marital status and risk of dementia is limited in Asia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this nationwide population-based cross-sectional survey, participants were selected by computerized random sampling from all 19 counties in Taiwan. A total of 10432 residents were assessed by a door-to-door in-person survey, among whom 7035 were normal and 929 were diagnosed with dementia using the criteria recommended by National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association. Premorbid lifestyle habits and demographic data including marital status were compared between normal subjects and participants with dementia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustment for age, gender, education, body mass index, smoking, drinking, marital status, sleep habits, exercise, social engagement and co-morbidities including hypertension, diabetes and cerebrovascular diseases, an increased risk for dementia was found in people with widow or widower status (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.15-1.77) and people who used to take a nap in the afternoon (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.02-1.72). Decreased risk was found in people with the habit of regular exercise (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.09-0.16), adequate night sleep (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39-0.76) and regular social engagement (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.36-0.77).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide preliminary evidence of possible risk-reduction effects for dementia, including regular exercise even in modest amounts, social engagement and adequate night sleep, whereas people with the widow/widower status or who used to take an afternoon nap might have increased risk of dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, En Chu Kong Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan; Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ling-Yun
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, En Chu Kong Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Taiwan Alzheimer's Disease Association, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Huey-Jane
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Taiwan Alzheimer's Disease Association, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Chien
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ta-Fu
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ker-Neng
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Chung Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Chi
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Ning
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Taiwan Alzheimer's Disease Association, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Neurology, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Psychology, College of Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Bioinformatics, College of Electric Engineering and Computer Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Jang
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D013624:Taiwan