Social capital and cognitive decline: Does sleep duration mediate the association?

Abstract

Background Studies have found that social capital (SC) is associated with the risk of cognitive decline; however, the mechanism explaining how SC leads to cognitive decline is unclear. The current study examines the mediation effect of sleep duration on the relationship between SC and cognitive decline in Chinese older adults. Methods A cross-sectional study of 955 community-dwelling aged 60 or over was conducted. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE), self-report sleep duration questionnaire, and social capital scales were administered during the face-to-face survey. The Bootstrap methods PROCESS program is employed to test the mediation model. Results After controlling for covariates, both social cohesion and social interaction were positively correlated with the MMSE score (p<0.001), and social cohesion was negatively correlated with sleep duration (p = 0.009); On the contrary, sleep duration was negatively correlated with MMSE score (p<0.001). Linear regression analysis showed social cohesion was positively associated with the MMSE score (β = 0.16, p = 0.005), while sleep duration was associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline (β = -0.72, p<0.001). Sleep duration has mediated the relationship between social cohesion and cognitive decline (explaining 21.7% of the total variance). Conclusions Social capital negatively associated with the risk of cognitive decline in this Chinese population, and sleep duration may partly explain this relationship. It may be a suggestive clue to identify those at a higher risk of progressing to cognitive impairment. Further prospective study in need to confirm this finding due to the cross-sectional design.

Sleep Quality and Aging: A Systematic Review on Healthy Older People, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Five studies used the diagnostic criteria of Albert et al [ 59 , 66 , 85 , 92 , 108 , 120 ]. Four studies used the “Mini-Mental State Examination—MMSE” [ 121 ] as a diagnostic criterion, with different cut-offs: MMSE lower than 24 [ 91 ], MMSE lower than 20 [ 78 ], MMSE lower than 21 [ 80 ], MMSE lower than 17 [ 109 ]. Seven studies adopted other criteria [ 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 ], for example, Portet et al criteria [ 63 , 65 , 75 , 88 , 95 , 98 , 107 , 109 , 122 ].…”

“…Nine [ 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] studies reported data from AD people and twenty-four [ 63 , 65 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 106 , 107 , 109 ] studies on people with MCI diagnosis.…”

“…One study adopting the “Jenkins Sleep Questionnaire—JSS” [ 101 ] did not report any significant difference between aMCI and the healthy control group. One study collected data about sleep routines through an interview [ 109 ] and reported a higher sleep duration in older people with MCI than in healthy subjects. Finally, using the “Sleep Continuity Scale in Alzheimer’s Disease—SCADS” [ 92 ], no significant difference in sleep routine was observed in healthy and MCI people.…”

Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms on the Association Between Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Quality of Life in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“… 21 Each item was measured using a 1–5 Likert scale in which 1 represents strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree: 1) People around here are willing to help their neighbors, 2) People in my neighborhood generally get along with each other, 3) People in my neighborhood can be trusted, and 4) People in my neighborhood share the same values. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.81 among the Chinese general population, 22 and 0.96 for patients with T2DM.…”

Social capital, depressive symptomatology, and frailty among older adults in the western areas of China

“…The higher the score indicates the greater the social capital of the participant. Both instruments are widely used to assess the social capital of Chinese adults [ 35 , 36 ], the Cronbach’s alpha in this sample is 0.86.…”