Cognitive function, social integration and mortality in a U.S. national cohort study of older adults
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Prior research suggests an interaction between social networks and Alzheimer's disease pathology and cognitive function, all predictors of survival in the elderly. We test the hypotheses that both social integration and cognitive function are independently associated with subsequent mortality and there is an interaction between social integration and cognitive function as related to mortality in a national cohort of older persons. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a longitudinal follow-up study of 5,908 American men and women aged 60 years and over examined in 1988-1994 followed an average 8.5 yr. Measurements at baseline included self-reported social integration, socio-demographics, health, body mass index, C-reactive protein and a short index of cognitive function (SICF). RESULTS: Death during follow-up occurred in 2,431. In bivariate analyses indicators of greater social integration were associated with higher cognitive function. Among persons with SICF score of 17, 22% died compared to 54% of those with SICF score of 0-11 (p < 0.0001). After adjusting for confounding by baseline socio-demographics and health status, the hazards ratio (HR) (95% confidence limits) for low SICF score was 1.43 (1.13-1.80, p < 0.001). After controlling for health behaviors, blood pressure and body mass, C-reactive protein and social integration, the HR was 1.36 (1.06-1.76, p = 0.02). Further low compared to high social integration was also independently associated with increased risk of mortality: HR 1.24 (1.02-1.52, p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In a cohort of older Americans, analyses demonstrated a higher risk of death independent of confounders among those with low cognitive function and low social integration with no significant interaction between them.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Measures described as assessing one particular social concept may contain elements that assess other distinct social concepts.
“Indeed, measures described as assessing one particular concept may contain elements that assess other distinct social concepts.”
From Social Isolation and Cognitive Function in Later Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [37]
The Methods (Subjects; page unavailable) measure social integration with a Social Network Index combining marital status, contacts with friends and relatives, religious attendance, and association membership. This illustrates a measure drawing on several social domains, but the paper does not establish that those items assess distinct social concepts rather than dimensions of social integration. The Discussion also notes that the index does not capture giving or receiving support. (LLM, conf=0.74)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Eng, P. M., Rimm, E. B., Fitzmaurice, G., & Kawachi, I. (2002) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/155.8.700 · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Religious Participation, Interleukin-6, and Mortality in Older Adults.
Lutgendorf, S. K., Russell, D., Ullrich, P., Harris, T. B., & Wallace, R. (2004) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/0278-6133.23.5.465 · Cited by 184 · cited 2× · see citing works
“reduced depression, and positive emotions leading to health-promoting physiological effects of decreased chronic sympatho-adrenal activation, improved immune function, and less chronic inflammation [10-13].”
Background
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 24
- Hebert LE Beckett LA Scherr PA Evans DA Annual incidence of Alzheimer disease in the United States projected to the years 2000 through 2050 Alzheimer disease and associated disorders 2001 15 169 173 11723367 10.1097/00002093-200110000-00002 · DOI · Paper page
- Bassuk SS Glass TA Berkman LF Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons Annals of internal medicine 1999 131 165 173 10428732
- Dewey ME Saz P Dementia, cognitive impairment and mortality in persons aged 65 and over living in the community: a systematic review of the literature International journal of geriatric psychiatry 2001 16 751 761 11536341 10.1002/gps.397 · DOI
- Smits CH Deeg DJ Kriegsman DM Schmand B Cognitive functioning and health as determinants of mortality in an older population American journal of epidemiology 1999 150 978 986 10547144
- Ostbye T Hill G Steenhuis R Mortality in elderly Canadians with and without dementia: a 5-year follow-up Neurology 1999 53 521 526 10449114
- Ostbye T Steenhuis R Wolfson C Walton R Hill G Predictors of five-year mortality in older Canadians: the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 1999 47 1249 1254 10522960
- Berkman LF Syme SL Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents American journal of epidemiology 1979 109 186 204 425958
- Seeman TE Kaplan GA Knudsen L Cohen R Guralnik J Social network ties and mortality among the elderly in the Alameda County Study American journal of epidemiology 1987 126 714 723 3631060
- Krause N Church-based social support and mortality J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2006 61 S140 146 16670191
- Krause N Exploring the stress-buffering effects of church-based and secular social support on self-rated health in late life J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2006 61 S35 43 16399948
- Ford ES Loucks EB Berkman LF Social integration and concentrations of C-reactive protein among US adults Annals of epidemiology 2006 16 78 84 16271297 10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.08.005 · DOI · Paper page
- Bennett DA Schneider JA Tang Y Arnold SE Wilson RS The effect of social networks on the relation between Alzheimer's disease pathology and level of cognitive function in old people: a longitudinal cohort study Lancet neurology 2006 5 406 412 16632311 10.1016/S1474-4422(06)70417-3 · DOI · Paper page
- Plan and operation of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–94. Series 1: programs and collection procedures Vital Health Stat 1 1994 1 407 7975354
- Hooijer C SHORT SCREENING-TESTS FOR DEMENTIA IN THE ELDERLY POPULATION.1. A COMPARISON BETWEEN AMTS, MMSE, MSQ AND SPMSQ International journal of geriatric psychiatry 1992 7 559 571 10.1002/gps.930070805 · DOI
- Folstein MF Folstein SE McHugh PR "Mini-mental state". A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician J Psychiatr Res 1975 12 189 198 1202204 10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6 · DOI · Paper page
- Albert M Smith LA Scherr PA Taylor JO Evans DA Funkenstein HH Use of brief cognitive tests to identify individuals in the community with clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease The International journal of neuroscience 1991 57 167 178 1938160 10.3109/00207459109150691 · DOI
- Cox CS Mussolino ME Rothwell ST Lane MA Golden CD Madans JH Feldman JJ Plan and operation of the NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Study, 1992 Vital Health Stat 1 1997 1 231 9564279
- Kleinbaum DG Survival Analysis: a self-learning text 1995 New York: Springer-Verlag
- Pavlik VN Hyman DJ Doody R Cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive function in adults 30–59 years of age (NHANES III) Neuroepidemiology 2005 24 42 50 15459509 10.1159/000081049 · DOI
- Waring SC Doody RS Pavlik VN Massman PJ Chan W Survival among patients with dementia from a large multi-ethnic population Alzheimer disease and associated disorders 2005 19 178 183 16327343 10.1097/01.wad.0000189033.35579.2d · DOI · Paper page
- Van Ness PH Kasl SV Religion and cognitive dysfunction in an elderly cohort The journals of gerontology 2003 58 S21 29 12496305 PMC4353608
- Alley DE Crimmins EM Karlamangla A Hu P Seeman TE Inflammation and rate of cognitive change in high-functioning older adults J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2008 63 50 55 18245760 PMC2952346
- Willis TD Relationships among chronological age, proinflammatory cytokines, and neurocognitive abilities PhD Dissertation 2008 Washington, D.C.: Howard University
- Orrell M Butler R Bebbington P Social factors and the outcome of dementia International journal of geriatric psychiatry 2000 15 515 520 10861917 10.1002/1099-1166(200006)15:6<515::AID-GPS147>3.0.CO;2-U · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Social Isolation and Cognitive Function in Later Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Evans, I. E. M., Martyr, A., Collins, R., Brayne, C., & Clare, L. (2019) · Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease · doi:10.3233/jad-180501 · Cited by 531 · see citing works
Nyqvist, F., Pape, B., Pellfolk, T., Forsman, A. K., & Wahlbeck, K. (2014) · Social Indicators Research · doi:10.1007/s11205-013-0288-9 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
- Authors
- Obisesan, T. O., & Gillum, R.
- Affiliations
- Howard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gillum, RF
- ORCID
- Obisesan, Thomas O
- Venue
- BMC Geriatrics
- Published
- 2009-07-28
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 33-33
- ISSN
- 1471-2318 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2724371
- OpenAlex
- W2055158784
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 1.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Geriatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (AG00980, K23AG000980, R01AG031517)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Keywords
- social integration, cognitive function, mortality, older adults, social networks, Alzheimer's disease, C-reactive protein, body mass index
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cognition, Cognition Disorders, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Health Surveys, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, United States, Cohort Studies, Survival Rate
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
