Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2019 Nov 27;34(8):1346-1355. doi: 10.1093/arclin/acy098.
Objective measures of neighborhood quality are associated with physical and mental health outcomes for older adults, but the relationship between perceived neighborhood quality and cognitive health has not been fully explored. Furthermore, positive and negative neighborhood characteristics may influence cognition through different mechanisms. The present study aimed to determine whether perceptions of neighborhood quality predict cognitive functioning in two domains, above and beyond individual-level risk factors, in a nationally representative sample of older adults.
Using cross-sectional weighted data from 13,919 participants aged 51 and older from the Health and Retirement Study, linear regression models tested independent associations between perceived neighborhood quality (physical disorder and social cohesion) and cognition (episodic memory and semantic verbal fluency), controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, chronic disease burden, and depressive symptoms. Interaction terms tested whether neighborhood social cohesion moderated the relationship between neighborhood physical disorder and each cognitive outcome.
Perception of greater neighborhood physical disorder was significantly associated with worse episodic memory, while perception of lower neighborhood social cohesion was significantly associated with worse semantic fluency. There were no significant interactions between physical disorder and social cohesion.
Results provide preliminary evidence for different mechanisms underlying associations between aspects of neighborhood quality and cognition (e.g., stress vs. social interaction). Additional intervention work is needed to determine whether improving neighborhood physical conditions and promoting social cohesion at the neighborhood level could reduce cognitive morbidity among older adults.
邻里质量的客观指标与老年人的身心健康结果相关，但感知邻里质量与认知健康之间的关系尚未得到充分探讨。此外，积极和消极的邻里特征可能通过不同的机制影响认知。本研究旨在确定在一个具有全国代表性的老年人群体中，感知邻里质量是否可以预测两个领域的认知功能，超过个体水平的风险因素。
使用来自健康与退休研究的 13919 名 51 岁及以上参与者的横断面加权数据，线性回归模型检验了感知邻里质量（物理无序和社会凝聚力）与认知（情节记忆和语义流畅性）之间的独立关联，控制了社会人口统计学特征、慢性疾病负担和抑郁症状。交互项检验了邻里社会凝聚力是否调节了邻里物理无序与每个认知结果之间的关系。
感知到更大的邻里物理无序与情节记忆较差显著相关，而感知到较低的邻里社会凝聚力与语义流畅性较差显著相关。物理无序和社会凝聚力之间没有显著的相互作用。
结果初步提供了邻里质量与认知之间关联的不同机制的证据（例如，压力与社会互动）。需要开展更多的干预工作，以确定改善邻里物理条件和促进邻里层面的社会凝聚力是否可以降低老年人的认知发病率。
