Loneliness is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To test whether loneliness is associated with the risk of cognitive impairment up to 11 years later in a European sample of middle-aged and older adults. The study examines whether this association is independent of measures of social isolation, depression, and other risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia.

Methods

Participants (N = 14 114) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) answered a single item on loneliness at baseline and were assessed for cognitive impairment every 2-to-3 years for 11 years. Participants who scored at least 1.5 standard deviations below the age-graded mean on both a memory recall task and verbal fluency task were classified as impaired. A three-item measure of loneliness was available for a sample o

SUBMITTER: Luchetti M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7755119 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature