Marital Status and Cognitive Impairment among Community-Dwelling Chinese Older Adults : The Role of Gender and Social Engagement

• Aims: To examine the association between marital status and cognitive impairment among community-dwelling Chinese older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from 2,498 Chinese aged 55 and older from the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study cohort. Cognitive impair- ment was defined as a Mini-Mental State Examination total score of 23 or below. Odds ratios of associations were reported and adjusted for potential confounders in logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 12.2% (n = 306). Being single was associated with about 2.5 times increased odds of cognitive impairment compared to be- ing married (adjusted OR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.41–4.55). The association between marital status and cognitive impairment was much stronger in men compared to that in women, and was indeed statistically significant only for men. Among the single and widowed persons social engagement was associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment. Compared with sub- jects in the lowest tertile of social engagement scores, the odds of having cognitive impair- ment was lowered by 50% for subjects in the second and the third tertile. Conclusion: Being single or widowed was associated with higher odds of cognitive impairment compared to be- ing married in a cohort of older Chinese men but not women.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Gerontologi, medicinsk/hälsovetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Cognitive impairment

Chinese older adults

Mini-Mental State Examination

Marital status

Social engagement

Psychology

Psykologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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