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Social and Leisure Activities and Risk of Dementia: A Prospective Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
Fabrigoule Colette,
Letenneur Luc,
Dartigues Jean François,
Zarrouk Mounir,
Commenges Daniel,
BarbergerGateau Pascale
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1995.tb06093.x
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , gerontology , confidence interval , club , relative risk , cohort , cohort study , prospective cohort study , verbal fluency test , cognition , demography , psychiatry , disease , surgery , neuropsychology , sociology , anatomy
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between social and leisure activities and risk of subsequent dementia in older community residents. SETTING: A cohort study of people aged 65 and older were followed‐up 1 and 3 years after a baseline screening (the Paquid study). PARTICIPANTS: 2040 older subjects living at home in Gironde (France) were randomly selected and followed for at least 3 years. DATA COLLECTION: Information about social and leisure activities was collected during the baseline screening with an interview by a psychologist. Incident cases of dementia were detected during the first and third year follow‐up screenings according to the DSM‐III‐R criteria. MAIN RESULTS: All but one of the social and leisure activities noted were significantly associated with a lower risk of dementia. Only golden club participation was not significantly associated with this risk. After adjustment for age and cognitive performance measured by the Mini‐Mental State Exam, visual memory test, and verbal fluency test, only traveling (Relative risk (RR) = .48, 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI) = .24‐.94), odd jobs or knitting (RR = .46, 95%CI = .26‐.85), and gardening (RR = .53, 95%CI = .28‐.99) remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: Regular participation in social or leisure activities such as traveling, odds jobs, knitting, or gardening were associated with a lower risk of subsequent dementia.