Exposure to indoor air pollution and the cognitive functioning of elderly rural women: a cross-sectional study using LASI data, India

Abstract

Background The majority of people in rural developing counties still rely on unclean and solid fuels for cooking, putting their health at risk. Adult and elderly women are most vulnerable due to prolonged exposure in cooking areas, and Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) may negatively impact their health and cognitive function. This study examines the effect of IAP on the cognitive function of middle-aged and elderly rural women in India. Methods The study utilized the data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI 2017–18, Wave-1). Bivariate analysis and multilevel linear regression models were applied to show the association between IAP and the cognitive abilities of rural women and results from regression were presented by beta coefficient (β) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Confounding factors such as age, education, health risk behaviours, marital status, monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE), religion etc. were adjusted in the final model. Results The study found that 18.71 percent of the rural women (n = 3,740) lived in Indoor Air Pollution exposed households. IAP was significantly found to be associated with the cognitive functional abilities among the middle and older aged rural women. Middle and older aged rural women exposed to IAP had lower cognitive functional abilities than non-exposed women. Comparing to the non-exposed group, the cognitive score was worse for those exposed to IAP in both the unadjusted (β = -1.96; 95%CI: -2.22 to -1.71) and the adjusted (β = -0.72; 95%CI: -0.92 to -0.51) models. Elderly rural women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were more likely to have cognitive impairment as a result of IAP. Conclusion Findings revealed that IAP from solid fuels could significantly affect the cognitive health of elderly rural women in India, indicating the need for immediate intervention efforts to reduce the use of solid fuels, IAP and associated health problems.

Multiple socioeconomic risks and cognitive impairment among older men and women in India

“…Finally, our study is limited to the more conventional measures of SES. A worthwhile undertaking for future research would be to broaden the measurement of SES, to include environmental disadvantages (e.g., air pollution) and neighborhood adversities (e.g., disproportionate instances of covid-19 pandemic), in gauging social-structural inequities in cognitive health [ [100] , [101] , [102] ].…”

Indoor Generation Era. Risks and challenges

“…This also applies to the elderly (92) who tend to be less active in any case. It has been proven that staying in enclosed spaces for extended periods of time can have a drastic impact on both physical and mental health (93,94,95,96,97,98). Insomnia, increased levels of aggression, irritability, lowered immunological defences of the body, increased vulnerability to circulatory, respiratory, and metabolic diseases, as well as a deterioration of social life are only some of the problems modern societies face.…”

Associations of Household Solid Fuel Use With Falls and Fall-Related Injuries in Middle-Aged and Older Population in China: A Cohort Study

“…Studies in animals showed that exposure to biodiesel fuels changed the expression of genes related to antioxidant defense and inflammation [8], which can cause falls [9]. Besides, the study found an increase in glial-fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the corpus callosum of mice exposed to diesel particulate material [10], and long-term exposure to air pollution impaired cognitive function [11][12][13]. In human studies, it was found that healthy individuals exposed to high levels of air pollutants showed ultrafine particles in the olfactory bulb and αprominent nuclear proteins in neurons and glial cells, causing a decline in cognitive function [14].…”