Use of Physical and Intellectual Activities and Socialization in the Management of Cognitive Decline of Aging and in Dementia: A Review

Table 3

Summary of studies on the effect of socialization on incident dementia.

Study	Length and frequency	Protocol	Sample	MMSE (baseline mean)	Outcome measures	Major findings
Wilson et al. [76]	4 years; annual check up	Longitudinal clinicopathological cohort study	𝑛=823		(i) Clinical diagnosis of AD; (ii) Change in measures of global cognition and specific cognitive functions	(i) Loneliness associated with cognitive decline and development of AD
Wang et al. [77]	Data collection (9  years)	Longitudinal population-based study	𝑛=776	27.3	(i) Frequency of social and leisure activities engaged 6.4 years before diagnosis; (ii) Baseline MMSE; (iii) MMSE of incident dementia cases	(i) Socially and mentally stimulating activity may preserve mental functioning in the elderly, reducing risk of dementia
Friedland et al. [78]		Questionnaire data collection	𝑛AD=193; 𝑛HC=358		(i) Monthly involvement in possible 26 nonoccupational activities at early adulthood and middle adulthood	(i) AD patients are less active in midlife than HC participants
Bennet et al. [79]	6-7 years	Longitudinal, epidemiological clinicopathological cohort study	𝑛=89	25.8 (not used in analysis)	(i) Annual clinical evaluation; (ii) Brain autopsy at death; (iii) Social network size (number of individuals seen at least once/month)	(i) Larger social network sizes observed in participants with higher level of cognition
Fratiglioni et al. [80]	3 years	Longitudinal community-based study	𝑛HC=1203	>23	(i) Social network at baseline, clinical evaluation at baseline and 3 years	(i) Limited social network ties and interaction increased risk of developing dementia

𝑛_HC,𝑛_AD: number of participants in healthy control group and group diagnosed with AD. MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination.