Association of psychological resilience and cognitive function in older adults: Based on the Ma' anshan Healthy Aging Cohort Study

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore whether psychological resilience can influence changes in cognitive function in older adults and provide clues and rationale for improving cognitive function and preventing the onset of dementia in the geriatric population. Methods: A total of 2495 older adults aged 60 years or older from the Ma' anshan Healthy Aging Cohort were included in the study. Participants' cognitive functioning and psychological resilience were measured using the MMSE (mini-mental state examination) scale and the SRQS (stress resilience quotient scale) scale during the 5 years of follow-up, and the association was explored. Those with MMSE scores = 17 in the illiterate group, = 20 in the elementary school group, and = 24 in the secondary school and above group were considered cognitive impairment. Results: The prevalence of cognitive impairment increased from 6.89% to 14.30% during the five years of followup. At 5-year follow-up, the group with the highest psychological resilience had 41 (6.83%) individuals whose cognitive functioning changed from normal to cognitive impairment, while the group with the worst psychological resilience had 114 (18.33%) individuals. The study also found a significant effect of different levels of psychological resilience on changes in cognitive functioning after adjusting for potential confounders. Compared with Q1 (the reference group), the Odds ratio of cognitive decline in Q2, Q3 and Q4 groups were 0.51(0.42,0.64), 0.37(0.29,0.47) and 0.19(0.13,0.27), respectively. Conclusions: Improving the level of psychological resilience in older adults may be one way to prevent the incidence of cognitive impairment.

Automated summary

This study explored the impact of psychological resilience on changes in cognitive function in older adults and found that improving the level of psychological resilience may help prevent the onset of cognitive impairment.