Assessing cognitive impairment in home-dwelling Chinese elders aged 80+: a detailed survey of 13,000 participants focusing on demographic factors, social engagement, and disease prevalence

Sensen Bian; Xiaobing Tian; Fanli Meng; Chunjie Xu; Yan Zhao; Qian Gao; Chengzhi Bian

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355708

Assessing cognitive impairment in home-dwelling Chinese elders aged 80+: a detailed survey of 13,000 participants focusing on demographic factors, social engagement, and disease prevalence

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Apr 2:15:1355708. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1355708. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Sensen Bian^{1

2}, Xiaobing Tian², Fanli Meng³, Chunjie Xu², Yan Zhao², Qian Gao², Chengzhi Bian²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Nanjing Zhiyuan Healthcare Training Center, Jiangsu SuYi Health Care Research Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
³ Health management center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haiko, Hainan, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Cognitive Impairment (CI) in the elderly, encompassing conditions ranging from Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) to dementia, represents a growing public health concern globally. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and correlates of CI among individuals aged 80 and above.

Methods: The study conducts 13,027 elderly individual's door-to-door surveys, followed by the cross-tabulation of analysis data, logistic regression analysis, and health condition assessments to examine various determinants of CI.

Results: The current study's key findings demonstrate sub-statical correlations between CI and various factors, including educational attainment, marital status, and gender. Pronounced differences are evident between urban and rural demographics. Furthermore, aspects of social engagement, notably communication proficiency and sensory capabilities, exhibit a strong association with CI. Logistic regression analysis highlights that residing in rural areas (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.637) and being female (OR = 0.71) are linked to a decreased risk of CI. In contrast, behavioral and health-related variables present a complex picture. Specifically, aggressive behavior (Adjusted OR = 1.881) and symptoms of depression (Adjusted OR = 0.549) contrast with conditions such as asthma (OR= 2.857) and cerebral infarction (OR=1.348), which elevate the risk of CI. Intriguingly, hyperlipidemia (OR= 0.671) appears to confer a protective effect against CI.

Conclusion: The study highlights the complexity of factors affecting CI in the elderly, advocating for a comprehensive approach to understanding and managing cognitive health.

Keywords: cognition function; diabetes; mini-cog; social interaction; socio-economic.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the ability assessment project of the elderly aged 80 and above in Lishui District in 2022, project number CPZC-2022010. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China-“ A study on the development of a digital therapy-based assessment tool for evaluating the sleep quality of middle-aged individuals and researching the O2O (Online to Offline) health management pathway”, project number 72364013.