Adherence to a healthy lifestyle and its association with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai

Abstract

IntroductionThere is a growing body of recent literature linking the association of specific or multiple lifestyles with cognitive impairment, but most of these studies have been conducted in Western populations, and it is necessary to study multiple lifestyles and cognitive abilities in different populations, with the primary population of this study being a select group of community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai, China.MethodsThe sample included 2,390 community-dwelling Chinese participants. Their cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We defined a healthy lifestyle score on the basis of being non-smoking, performing ≥210 min/wk moderate/vigorous-intensity physical activity, having light to moderate alcohol consumption, eating vegetables and fruits daily, having a body mass index (BMI) of 18.5–23.9 kg/m2, and having a waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) <0.90 for men and <0.85 for women, for an overall score ranging from 0 to 6.ResultsCompared with participants with ≤2 healthy lifestyle factors, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for participants with 4, 5, and 6 healthy lifestyle factors were 0.53 (95% CI, 0.29–0.98), 0.40 (95% CI, 0.21–0.75), and 0.36 (95% CI, 0.16–0.79), respectively. Only WHR (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.37–0.78) and physical activity (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51–0.92) were associated with cognitive impairment. A healthy lifestyle correlated with overall cognition (β = 0.066, orientation (β = 0.049), language ability (β = 0.060), delayed recall (β = 0.045) and executive function (β = 0.044) (P all < 0.05).ConclusionThe study provides evidence on an inverse association between healthy lifestyles and cognitive impairment. We investigated whether healthy lifestyle was related to specific cognitive functions to provide a theoretical basis for accurate clinical prescription.

A bibliometric analysis on the health behaviors related to mild cognitive impairment

“…Recent estimates from the HRS HCAP study suggest a 22% prevalence of MCI in individuals aged 65 and above (Manly et al, 2022). Extensive research shows that MCI can be effectively prevented and managed through active lifestyles and cognitive training (Qi et al, 2023;Xing et al, 2024). Scientific evidence demonstrates that adopting good living habits and proper nutrition can significantly slow the progression of MCI (Castro et al, 2023).…”