C. Fabrigoule et al., SOCIAL AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES AND RISK OF DEMENTIA - A PROSPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL-STUDY, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43(5), 1995, pp. 485-490
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between social and leisure activi
ties and risk of subsequent dementia in older community residents. SET
TING: A cohort study of people aged 65 and older were followed-up 1 an
d 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: Informati
on about social and leisure activities was collected during the baseli
ne screening with an interview by a psychologist. Incident cases of de
mentia were detected during the first and third year follow-up screeni
ngs 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 m
emory test, and verbal fluency test, only traveling (Relative risk (RR
) = .48, 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) = .24-.94), odd jobs or knit
ting (RR = .46, 95% CI = .26-.85), and gardening (RR = .53, 95% CI = .
28-.99) remained significant. CONCLUSIONS: Regular participation in so
cial or leisure activities such as traveling, odds jobs, knitting, or
gardening were associated with a lower risk of subsequent dementia.