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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1460941
This article is part of the Research Topic Lifestyle and Healthy Aging to Prevent Cognitive Decline and Dementia View all 17 articles

Risk Factors for Cognitive Decline in Older Chinese Adults: The Impact of Social Activity on the Relationship Between Hearing, Functional Mobility, and Cognition

Provisionally accepted
Hao Wang Hao Wang 1Dan Chen Dan Chen 1Daling Hu Daling Hu 1Fangyuan Tian Fangyuan Tian 1Meifen Dai Meifen Dai 2Shuangyan Zhang Shuangyan Zhang 3Liyu JIN Liyu JIN 1*
  • 1 Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
  • 2 Changshu No.5 People's Hospital, Changshu, China
  • 3 Changshu No. 2 Peoples’ Hospital, Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Hearing and functional mobility impairments are recognized as risk factors for cognitive decline in older adults, yet the causal relationship underlying these associations is not well-understood. This study aims to explore whether engagement in social activities mediates the link between hearing or functional mobility impairment and cognitive decline. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in two cities in Jiangsu Province, Eastern China. Participants self-reported hearing impairment and social activity engagement, whereas functional mobility impairment was assessed using the Timed Up & Go Test (TUGT). Cognitive function was evaluated through the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Logistic regression analysis explored factors influencing cognitive function, and mediation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between hearing or functional mobility impairment and cognitive decline. Results: The study included 10,217 adults aged 60 and above. Among them, 19.35% reported hearing impairment, while 40.86% failed the Timed Up & Go Test (TUGT). The Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) indicated a 30.40% prevalence of cognitive decline. Logistic regression analysis identified significant associations of cognitive function with factors such as gender, age, education level, residency, living arrangement, hyperlipidemia, cerebrovascular disease, alcohol consumption, smoking, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs),social activity, hearing, and functional mobility (P < 0.01). Mediation analysis, after adjusting for confounders, showed that social activity engagement partially mediated the impact of functional mobility impairment on cognitive decline (indirect effect: -0.0947, 95% Bootstrapped CI: -0.1228, -0.0695; proportion of total effect: 11.635%, P < 0.01). However, no mediation effect was observed in the relationship between selfreported hearing impairment and cognitive decline.Conclusions: This study revealed that social activity engagement plays a mediating role in the relationship between functional mobility and cognitive function, but it does not significantly influence the relationship between self-reported hearing impairment and cognitive decline. These findings suggest that social activity engagement could be a crucial factor in preventing cognitive deterioration among older adults with functional mobility impairments.

    Keywords: self-reported hearing impairment, functional mobility impairment, social activity, Cognitive Function, Aging

    Received: 07 Jul 2024; Accepted: 04 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Chen, Hu, Tian, Dai, Zhang and JIN. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Liyu JIN, Sir Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

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