Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)
Background: Active engagement in intellectually enriching activities reportedly lowers the risk of cognitive decline; however, few studies have examined this association, including engagement in traditional cultural activities. This study aimed to elucidate the types of cultural engagement associate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Japan Epidemiological Association
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Epidemiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/10/31_JE20190337/_pdf |
| _version_ | 1818826515905773568 |
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| author | Akiho Sugita Ling Ling Taishi Tsuji Katsunori Kondo Ichiro Kawachi |
| author_facet | Akiho Sugita Ling Ling Taishi Tsuji Katsunori Kondo Ichiro Kawachi |
| author_sort | Akiho Sugita |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Active engagement in intellectually enriching activities reportedly lowers the risk of cognitive decline; however, few studies have examined this association, including engagement in traditional cultural activities. This study aimed to elucidate the types of cultural engagement associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment. Methods: We examined the association between cultural engagement and cognitive impairment using Cox proportional hazards models in a cohort of 44,985 participants (20,772 males and 24,213 females) aged 65 years or older of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study from 2010 to 2016. Intellectual activities (eg, reading books, magazines, and/or newspapers), creative activities (eg, crafts and painting), and traditional cultural activities (eg, poetry composition [haiku], calligraphy, and tea ceremony/flower arrangement) were included among cultural engagement activities. Results: Over a follow-up period of 6 years, incident cognitive disability was observed in 4,198 respondents (9.3%). After adjusting for potential confounders, such as depression and social support, intellectual activities were protectively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR] for those who read and stated that reading was their hobby, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66–0.85 and HR for those who read but did not consider reading a hobby, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.65–0.80). Engagement in creative activities was also significantly correlated with lower risk of cognitive impairment (crafts: HR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.62–0.81 and painting: HR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66–0.96). The association between traditional cultural activities and the risk of cognitive impairment was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Engagement in intellectual and creative activities may be associated with reduced risk of dementia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:28:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f6df070c4db4899b5376887b79d0b04 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0917-5040 1349-9092 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T00:28:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Japan Epidemiological Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Epidemiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f6df070c4db4899b5376887b79d0b042022-12-21T20:45:09ZengJapan Epidemiological AssociationJournal of Epidemiology0917-50401349-90922021-10-01311054555310.2188/jea.JE20190337Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)Akiho Sugita0Ling Ling1Taishi Tsuji2Katsunori Kondo3Ichiro Kawachi4Faculty of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanGraduate School of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanFaculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tokyo, JapanCenter for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, JapanDepartment of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesBackground: Active engagement in intellectually enriching activities reportedly lowers the risk of cognitive decline; however, few studies have examined this association, including engagement in traditional cultural activities. This study aimed to elucidate the types of cultural engagement associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment. Methods: We examined the association between cultural engagement and cognitive impairment using Cox proportional hazards models in a cohort of 44,985 participants (20,772 males and 24,213 females) aged 65 years or older of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study from 2010 to 2016. Intellectual activities (eg, reading books, magazines, and/or newspapers), creative activities (eg, crafts and painting), and traditional cultural activities (eg, poetry composition [haiku], calligraphy, and tea ceremony/flower arrangement) were included among cultural engagement activities. Results: Over a follow-up period of 6 years, incident cognitive disability was observed in 4,198 respondents (9.3%). After adjusting for potential confounders, such as depression and social support, intellectual activities were protectively associated with the risk of cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR] for those who read and stated that reading was their hobby, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66–0.85 and HR for those who read but did not consider reading a hobby, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.65–0.80). Engagement in creative activities was also significantly correlated with lower risk of cognitive impairment (crafts: HR 0.71; 95% CI, 0.62–0.81 and painting: HR 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66–0.96). The association between traditional cultural activities and the risk of cognitive impairment was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Engagement in intellectual and creative activities may be associated with reduced risk of dementia.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/10/31_JE20190337/_pdfpreventiondementiacultural activityreadinghobby |
| spellingShingle | Akiho Sugita Ling Ling Taishi Tsuji Katsunori Kondo Ichiro Kawachi Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) Journal of Epidemiology prevention dementia cultural activity reading hobby |
| title | Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) |
| title_full | Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) |
| title_fullStr | Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) |
| title_short | Cultural Engagement and Incidence of Cognitive Impairment: A 6-year Longitudinal Follow-up of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) |
| title_sort | cultural engagement and incidence of cognitive impairment a 6 year longitudinal follow up of the japan gerontological evaluation study jages |
| topic | prevention dementia cultural activity reading hobby |
| url | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jea/31/10/31_JE20190337/_pdf |
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