Department of Neurology, Putuo People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200060, China.
NHC Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Jul 4;24(1):1783. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19210-5.
To investigate the associations between the most popular social media platform WeChat usage and cognitive performance among the middle-aged and older Chinese population using data from a nationally representative survey.
In total, 17,472 participants (≥ 45 years old) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, Wave 4, 2018) were analyzed. Cognitive performance including episodic memory and executive function was assessed using Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE). Other confounding variables included socio-economic characteristics, medical status, and lifestyle-related information. Multiple linear regression models were used to test the association between cognitive performance and WeChat usage by introducing covariates hierarchically. Subgroup analyses of age and gender were conducted to estimate the robustness of the primary findings.
After adjusting for multiple confounders across all linear models, WeChat usage is significantly associated with executive function, episodic memory, and global cognitive performance (all p values<0.05). Such results remained robust in subgroup analyses, stratified by age and gender, and also verified according to longitudinal analyses. Compared to 'Chat-only' users who only used WeChat for online interpersonal communication, further usage of WeChat functions such as using 'Moments' appeared to be significantly associated with better cognitive performance, especially for episodic memory.
Social media usage is significantly and positively associated with better cognitive performance among the middle-aged and older Chinese population. Along with point-to-point messaging, using 'Moments' and extended social media platform functions may correlate to better cognitive performance.
利用全国代表性调查数据，研究中国中老年人群中最受欢迎的社交媒体平台微信使用与认知表现之间的关系。
共分析了来自中国健康与退休纵向研究（CHARLS，第 4 波，2018 年）的 17472 名参与者（≥45 岁）。使用简易精神状态检查（MMSE）评估认知表现，包括情景记忆和执行功能。其他混杂变量包括社会经济特征、医疗状况和与生活方式相关的信息。使用多元线性回归模型，通过分层引入协变量，测试认知表现与微信使用之间的关联。进行了年龄和性别亚组分析，以估计主要发现的稳健性。
在所有线性模型中调整了多个混杂因素后，微信使用与执行功能、情景记忆和总体认知表现显著相关（所有 p 值均<0.05）。这些结果在年龄和性别亚组分析中仍然稳健，根据纵向分析也得到了验证。与仅将微信用于在线人际交流的“仅聊天”用户相比，进一步使用微信功能（如使用“朋友圈”）与更好的认知表现显著相关，尤其是情景记忆。
社交媒体使用与中国中老年人群更好的认知表现显著正相关。除了点对点消息传递外，使用“朋友圈”和扩展社交媒体平台功能可能与更好的认知表现相关。
