Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
Clinical Research Institute, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2023 Apr 1;78(4):684-694. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbac165.
Growing evidence suggests that religiosity is an important social determinant of health, including cognitive health. Yet most prior work focused on older adults or was conducted in racially and denominationally homogeneous regional samples. This study investigates the association of religious service attendance in midlife with cognitive function later in midlife.
Using data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, a racially and geographically diverse prospective cohort study, we explored the association of religious service attendance in midlife with cognitive function 5 years later. Cognitive function was measured using four cognitive tests administered by CARDIA technicians. Multivariable linear regression was used for analyses. Primary analyses controlled for sociodemographics, physical health, depression, and prior religious involvement. Sensitivity analyses additionally controlled for baseline cognition and social support.
Our study population included 2,716 participants (57.2% female, 44.9% Black, and mean age 50). In primary analyses, attending services more than weekly (compared to never) in midlife was associated with better global cognition (β = 0.14 standard deviations, 95% [confidence interval] CI = 0.02, 0.26) and verbal memory (β = 0.17 standard deviations, 95% CI = 0.04, 0.30), but not with processing speed (β = 0.04 standard deviations, 95% CI = -0.08, 0.16). A reverse association was observed with executive function (β = -0.16 standard deviations, 95% CI = -0.30, -0.02). Most findings persisted in analyses accounting for loss to follow-up via inverse probability weighting.
Our findings suggest that frequent involvement in religious services at midlife is associated with better global cognition and verbal memory but worse executive function. There was no association with processing speed.
越来越多的证据表明，宗教信仰是健康的一个重要社会决定因素，包括认知健康。然而，大多数先前的研究都集中在老年人或在种族和教派同质的地区样本中进行。本研究调查了中年时参加宗教仪式与中年后期认知功能的关系。
本研究使用来自冠状动脉风险发展在年轻人（CARDIA）研究的数据，这是一项种族和地理多样化的前瞻性队列研究，我们探讨了中年时参加宗教仪式与 5 年后认知功能的关系。认知功能使用 CARDIA 技术人员进行的四项认知测试进行测量。采用多变量线性回归进行分析。主要分析控制了社会人口统计学、身体健康、抑郁和以前的宗教参与。敏感性分析还控制了基线认知和社会支持。
我们的研究人群包括 2716 名参与者（57.2%为女性，44.9%为黑人，平均年龄为 50 岁）。在主要分析中，与从不参加相比，中年时每周参加宗教仪式超过一次（β=0.14 个标准差，95%置信区间（CI）=0.02，0.26）与整体认知能力（β=0.14 个标准差，95%置信区间（CI）=0.02，0.26）和语言记忆（β=0.17 个标准差，95%置信区间（CI）=0.04，0.30）呈正相关，但与处理速度（β=0.04 个标准差，95%置信区间（CI）=-0.08，0.16）无关。与执行功能呈负相关（β=-0.16 个标准差，95%置信区间（CI）=-0.30，-0.02）。通过逆概率加权进行随访损失分析，大多数发现仍然存在。
我们的研究结果表明，中年时频繁参加宗教仪式与整体认知和语言记忆能力提高有关，但与执行功能下降有关。与处理速度无关。
