Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Institute of Nutrition, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
Nutr J. 2024 Jun 4;23(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s12937-024-00959-9.
Given the benefits of gardening for physical and psychological health, we explored whether gardening was associated with lower risks of subjective cognitive decline (SCD), a precursor of dementia, and SCD-related functional limitations.
Included in this cross-sectional study were 136,748 participants aged 45 + years old from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2019 survey, who were then categorized into three groups according to self-reported exercise status: non-exercisers, gardeners, and other exercisers. SCD was assessed via a questionnaire, and SCD-related functional limitations were referred to as having difficulties in engaging in household or social activities due to SCD. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the associations of gardening with SCD and SCD-related functional limitations, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status, lifestyle factors, and health status. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine whether the observed association between gardening and SCD was mediated by energy expenditure (MET-hours/week), depression status, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Overall, 11.1% and 5.4% of participants self-reported experiencing SCD and SCD-related functional limitations, respectively. The adjusted OR for gardeners vs. non-exercisers, was 0.72 (95% CI 0.62-0.83) for SCD and 0.57 (95% CI 0.44-0.73) for SCD-related functional limitations. The observed association between gardening and SCD was explained by higher energy expenditure (39.0%), lower likelihood of having depression (21.5%), and higher consumption of fruits and vegetables (3.4%) (P<0.05 for all). Similar patterns were observed for SCD-related functional limitations.
In this nationally representative sample, gardening was associated with better cognitive status, which may be mainly attributed to better depression status and energy expenditure.
鉴于园艺对身心健康的益处，我们探讨了园艺是否与较低的主观认知下降（SCD）风险相关，SCD 是痴呆的前兆，以及与 SCD 相关的功能限制。
本横断面研究纳入了来自 2019 年行为风险因素监测系统的 136748 名 45 岁及以上的参与者，根据自我报告的运动状态将他们分为三组：非运动者、园艺者和其他运动者。通过问卷评估 SCD，SCD 相关的功能限制是指由于 SCD 而导致在参与家务或社会活动方面有困难。使用比值比（OR）和 95%置信区间（CI）来评估园艺与 SCD 和 SCD 相关的功能限制之间的关联，调整了年龄、性别、社会经济地位、生活方式因素和健康状况。进行中介分析以检验园艺与 SCD 之间观察到的关联是否通过能量消耗（MET 小时/周）、抑郁状态和水果与蔬菜的摄入来介导。
总体而言，11.1%和 5.4%的参与者分别自我报告有 SCD 和 SCD 相关的功能限制。园艺者与非运动者相比，SCD 的调整后的 OR 为 0.72（95%CI 0.62-0.83），SCD 相关的功能限制为 0.57（95%CI 0.44-0.73）。园艺与 SCD 之间的观察到的关联可通过更高的能量消耗（39.0%）、较低的抑郁可能性（21.5%）和更高的水果与蔬菜摄入（3.4%）来解释（所有 P<0.05）。对于 SCD 相关的功能限制，也观察到了类似的模式。
在这个具有全国代表性的样本中，园艺与更好的认知状态相关，这可能主要归因于更好的抑郁状态和能量消耗。
