Zhaoyang Ruixue, Sliwinski Martin J, Martire Lynn M, Katz Mindy J, Scott Stacey B
Center for Healthy Aging, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 Feb 2;79(4). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab019.
Detecting subtle behavioral changes in everyday life as early signs of cognitive decline and impairment is important for effective early intervention against Alzheimer's disease. This study examined whether features of daily social interactions captured by ecological momentary assessments could serve as more sensitive behavioral markers to distinguish older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from those without MCI, as compared to conventional global measures of social relationships.
Participants were 311 community dwelling older adults (aged 70 to 90 years) who reported their social interactions and socializing activities five times daily for 14 consecutive days using smartphones.
Compared to those with normal cognitive function, older adults classified as MCI reported less frequent total and positive social interactions and less frequent in-person socializing activities on a daily basis. Older adults with and without MCI, however, did not show differences in most features of social relationships assessed by conventional global measures.
These results suggest that certain features of daily social interactions (quality and quantity) could serve as sensitive and ecologically valid behavioral markers to facilitate the detection of MCI.
检测日常生活中细微的行为变化作为认知衰退和损伤的早期迹象，对于针对阿尔茨海默病的有效早期干预很重要。本研究探讨了与传统的社会关系整体测量方法相比，通过生态瞬时评估捕捉到的日常社会互动特征是否可以作为更敏感的行为标志物，以区分轻度认知障碍（MCI）老年人和无MCI的老年人。
参与者为311名居住在社区的老年人（年龄70至90岁），他们连续14天每天使用智能手机报告5次自己的社会互动和社交活动。
与认知功能正常的老年人相比，被归类为MCI的老年人报告的每日社交互动总数和积极社交互动较少，亲自社交活动也较少。然而，有和没有MCI的老年人在传统整体测量方法评估的社会关系的大多数特征上没有差异。
这些结果表明，日常社会互动的某些特征（质量和数量）可以作为敏感且具有生态学效度的行为标志物，以促进MCI的检测。
