Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.

<h4>Background</h4>Evidence on the association between cognitive activities and mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment is limited. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the association and examine whether baseline cognitive function mediates the association.<h4>Metho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Linjia Duan, Liming Zhao, Ziqiong Wang, Lu Liu, Ningying Song, Sen He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319093
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850190123565580288
author Linjia Duan
Liming Zhao
Ziqiong Wang
Lu Liu
Ningying Song
Sen He
author_facet Linjia Duan
Liming Zhao
Ziqiong Wang
Lu Liu
Ningying Song
Sen He
author_sort Linjia Duan
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Evidence on the association between cognitive activities and mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment is limited. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the association and examine whether baseline cognitive function mediates the association.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 10477 older participants with cognitive impairment (median age: 95.0 [IQR: 88.0-100.0], males: 27.9%, Mini-Mental State Examination score ≤24 points) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 1998 and 2014 were included, with follow-up until 2018. Exposures were three prevalent cognitive activities among older adults in China: reading books/newspapers, playing cards/mah-jong, and watching TV or listening to radio, and the outcome was all-cause mortality within a 10-year follow-up period. We evaluated the association between these activities and mortality using Cox regression models and also conducted a mediation analysis to examine the role of baseline cognitive function in this association.<h4>Results</h4>During a follow-up period of totaling 33632.1 person-years, there were 8763 recorded deaths (83.6%). For each cognitive activity, the risk of mortality decreased with an increased frequency of engagement in these activities. Moreover, the risk of mortality significantly decreased with a greater number of cognitive activities. With zero activities as reference, adjusted hazard ratios were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.79-0.87) for one activity, 0.76 (95% CI: 0.69-0.83) for two activities, and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.53-0.86) for three activities, respectively. Stratified and sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings. Additionally, baseline cognitive function partially mediated the association between cognitive activities and mortality; compared to zero activities, the mediated proportions were 15.2% (95% CI: 10.9%-22.4%) for one activity, 13.4% (95% CI: 8.9%-21.3%) for two activities, and 9.3% (95% CI: 4.2%-23.4%) for three activities, respectively.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Among older adults with cognitive impairment in China, the risk of all-cause mortality significantly decreased as both the frequency and number of cognitive activities increased. Baseline cognitive function only mediated a small proportion of the benefits of cognitive activities in longevity.
format Article
id doaj-art-0b35438f40a6406f9b751d2fa01618da
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-0b35438f40a6406f9b751d2fa01618da2025-08-20T02:15:24ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031909310.1371/journal.pone.0319093Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.Linjia DuanLiming ZhaoZiqiong WangLu LiuNingying SongSen He<h4>Background</h4>Evidence on the association between cognitive activities and mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment is limited. Therefore, the study aimed to assess the association and examine whether baseline cognitive function mediates the association.<h4>Methods</h4>A total of 10477 older participants with cognitive impairment (median age: 95.0 [IQR: 88.0-100.0], males: 27.9%, Mini-Mental State Examination score ≤24 points) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 1998 and 2014 were included, with follow-up until 2018. Exposures were three prevalent cognitive activities among older adults in China: reading books/newspapers, playing cards/mah-jong, and watching TV or listening to radio, and the outcome was all-cause mortality within a 10-year follow-up period. We evaluated the association between these activities and mortality using Cox regression models and also conducted a mediation analysis to examine the role of baseline cognitive function in this association.<h4>Results</h4>During a follow-up period of totaling 33632.1 person-years, there were 8763 recorded deaths (83.6%). For each cognitive activity, the risk of mortality decreased with an increased frequency of engagement in these activities. Moreover, the risk of mortality significantly decreased with a greater number of cognitive activities. With zero activities as reference, adjusted hazard ratios were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.79-0.87) for one activity, 0.76 (95% CI: 0.69-0.83) for two activities, and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.53-0.86) for three activities, respectively. Stratified and sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings. Additionally, baseline cognitive function partially mediated the association between cognitive activities and mortality; compared to zero activities, the mediated proportions were 15.2% (95% CI: 10.9%-22.4%) for one activity, 13.4% (95% CI: 8.9%-21.3%) for two activities, and 9.3% (95% CI: 4.2%-23.4%) for three activities, respectively.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Among older adults with cognitive impairment in China, the risk of all-cause mortality significantly decreased as both the frequency and number of cognitive activities increased. Baseline cognitive function only mediated a small proportion of the benefits of cognitive activities in longevity.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319093
spellingShingle Linjia Duan
Liming Zhao
Ziqiong Wang
Lu Liu
Ningying Song
Sen He
Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
PLoS ONE
title Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
title_full Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
title_fullStr Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
title_full_unstemmed Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
title_short Associations between cognitive activities and all-cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment: A prospective cohort study.
title_sort associations between cognitive activities and all cause mortality among older adults with cognitive impairment a prospective cohort study
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319093
work_keys_str_mv AT linjiaduan associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy
AT limingzhao associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy
AT ziqiongwang associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy
AT luliu associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy
AT ningyingsong associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy
AT senhe associationsbetweencognitiveactivitiesandallcausemortalityamongolderadultswithcognitiveimpairmentaprospectivecohortstudy