The prevalence of mild cognitive impairment by aspects of social isolation

Abstract

Objectives This study describes the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) across different aspects of social isolation among adults 65 years or older. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we utilized the Wave 3 data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). MCI was defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score less than 23. Prevalence of MCI was calculated for above and below average social disconnectedness (SD), perceived isolation (PI), and demographic variables age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and household income. Results The overall prevalence [and 95% confidence interval] of MCI was 27.5% [25.5–29.6]. The high prevalence of MCI was found in those who had above average SD (32.0% [29.1–34.9]), above average PI (33.3% [29.7–36.8]), were older in age (43.1% [38.9–47.3]), male (28.7% [25.9–31.5]), Black (61.1% [52.5–69.6]), had less than a high school education (66.3% [58.9–73.8]), or were in the lowest income group (46.2% [39.7–52.7]). Those with above average SD or PI had a higher prevalence of MCI in almost all demographics, compared to those with below average SD or PI. Those who were Black or African American or had less than a high school education did not have a greater prevalence of MCI when SD was above average. Discussion This current study adds to the body of literature that links SD and PI to MCI and sheds light on the possible existing socio-demographic disparities. Groups with greater than average SD or PI tend to have a higher prevalence of MCI. Further studies are needed to establish a causal association of SD and PI with MCI.

The risk of developing dementia in the COVID‐19 pandemic; a cohort study

“…The independent effect of the risk of the covariates in our analysis is shown in supplementary Table . MCI is widely considered to be a transitional stage between normal cognition and dementia, although some individuals do revert to normal cognition from MCI 30 . It was not possible to include all the covariates used in the primary analysis as the Poisson model was unable to converge.…”

“…Loneliness or perceived isolation is the feeling of being socially and emotionally isolated, which can be present despite frequent social contact. Despite loneliness being frequently studied in relation to dementia, there remains controversy 30,37,40–44 . Technology may be a promising tool in the prevention of social isolation or loneliness found during this pandemic, 45 although this was not supported by a rapid review finding limited evidence of video calls to reduced loneliness in older adults and no studies reporting on video calls to help reduce social isolation 46 .…”

“…Despite loneliness being frequently studied in relation to dementia, there remains controversy. 30,37,[40][41][42][43][44] Technology may be a promising tool in the prevention of social isolation or loneliness found during this pandemic, 45 although this was not supported by a rapid review finding limited evidence of video calls to reduced loneliness in older adults and no studies reporting on video calls to help reduce social isolation. 46 Co-resident carers, on the other hand, have been shown…”

“I couldn't connect the wires in my brain.” Young adult cancer survivors' experience with cognitive functioning

“…Yet, many of these same participants reported social isolation—being the only person among their peers with cancer and having feelings of isolation compounded during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Social isolation and loneliness increase risk for mild cognitive impairment among older adults 26 and perceived cognitive impairment among middle‐aged breast cancer survivors 27 . Further research is needed to determine the contribution of each of these CRCI risk factors to variability in cognitive functioning amount YA cancer survivors.…”

Social isolation from childhood to mid-adulthood: is there an association with older brain age?

“…Even if the temporal relationships reported here are not causal, they suggest that social isolation at different life stages – particularly in mid-adulthood – is associated with older brain age. The association is strong enough for even mild levels of cognitive impairment to be linked to social isolation (Ishikawa, Davis, Chen, & Lim, 2022). Brain age, a global measure of brain health, may be mediating the effect of social isolation on cognitive decline, given that both social ties and brain health have been associated with cognitive function.…”