Adherence
Poor social engagement (including poor social network and poor social support) is associated with a significantly increased risk of developing dementia.
Prioritize building and maintaining a reliable social network and seeking social support, as these structural aspects of socialization are linked to a lower risk of dementia. Focus on objective measures like having a close friend, regular contact, and support systems rather than just subjective feelings of loneliness, which showed less consistent protective effects in this analysis.
Poor social engagement indices were associated with increased dementia risk, including having a poor social network (RR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.31–1.96; I2 = 0.00%) and poor social support (RR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.01–1.62; I2 = 55.51%).
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of 33 studies with over 2 million participants, though heterogeneity exists for some subgroups.
Source
The Association between Social Engagement, Loneliness, and Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Ross Penninkilampi et al. · Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · 2018
DOI 10.3233/jad-180439
More from this paper
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →