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Eunyoung Yoo 1 Article
Age-specific findings on lifestyle and trajectories of cognitive function from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging
Seungju lim, Eunyoung Yoo, Ickpyo Hong, Ji-Hyuk Park
Epidemiol Health. 2023;45:e2023098.   Published online November 2, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2023098
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AbstractAbstract AbstractSummary PDF
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Few longitudinal studies have explored age-related differences in the relationship between lifestyle factors and cognitive decline. This study investigated lifestyle factors at baseline that slow the longitudinal rate of cognitive decline in young-old (55-64 years), middle-old (65-74 years), and old-old (75+ years) individuals.
METHODS
We conducted an 11-year follow-up that included 6,189 older adults from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, which is a cohort study of community-dwelling older Koreans. Lifestyle factors, including physical activity, social activity (SA), smoking, and alcohol consumption were assessed at baseline. Cognitive function was measured at 2-year intervals over 11 years. Latent growth modeling and multi-group analysis were performed.
RESULTS
The influence of lifestyle factors on the rate of cognitive decline differed by age. Smoking at baseline (-0.05; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.11 to -0.00, per study wave) accelerated cognitive decline in young-old individuals, whereas frequent participation in SA at baseline (0.02; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.03, per study wave) decelerated cognitive decline in middle-old individuals. None of the lifestyle factors in this study decelerated cognitive decline in old-old individuals.
CONCLUSIONS
Cognitive strategies based on modifiable lifestyle factors such as smoking cessation in young-old individuals and frequent SA participation in middle-old age individuals may have great potential for preventing cognitive decline. Because the influence of lifestyle factors varied by age group, age-specific approaches are recommended to promote cognitive health.
Summary
Korean summary
본 연구는 국내 노인인구를 연령대별로 구분하여 연소노인(55-64세), 중고령노인(65-74세), 고령노인(75세+)의 인지저하 기울기를 가속 혹은 감속시키는 라이프스타일 요인을 파악하였다. '흡연'은 연소노인의 인지저하를 가속, '사회활동 참여 빈도'는 중고령노인의 인지저하를 감속시키는 것으로 나타났으며, 고령노인의 경우 유의미한 변수가 나타나지 않았다. 본 결과는 노인의 인지건강에 있어 연령대별 차별화된 라이프스타일 전략이 필요할 것을 시사한다.
Key Message
This study aimed to identify lifestyle factors that accelerate or decelerate the cognitive decline slope in the older population in South Korea, categorized by age groups: young-old adults (55-64), middle-old adults (65-74), and old-old adults (75+). The findings indicated that 'smoking' accelerates cognitive decline in young-old adults, while 'frequency of social activity participation' decelerates cognitive decline in middle-old adults. However, no significant lifestyle variables were identified for old-old adults. These results suggest the necessity of differentiated lifestyle strategies based on age groups for promoting cognitive health in the older population.

Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health