The relationship between the quality of residential community in childhood and cognitive function of the middle-aged and older people in China / 中华预防医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To examine the relationship between the quality of residential community in childhood and cognitive function of the middle-aged and older people in China. Methods: Based on the data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2011, 10 940 people aged≥45 years who met the criteria were included. The general demographic characteristics, lifestyle, personal disease history, quality of residential community and cognitive function of the subjects were collected by using standardized questionnaires. The quality of residential community in childhood included community safety, community enthusiasm and neighborhood relationship. The cognitive function was measured in cognitive integrity and episodic memory. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the quality of residential community in childhood and cognitive function of the middle-aged and older people. Results: The age of 10 940 subjects were (58.3±9.1) years old, with 51.5% (5 635) being female and 47.3% (5 174) having good cognitive function. The results of multivariate logistic regression model showed that compared with those who lived in an extremely unsafe, unenthusiastic and unharmonious community in childhood, there was an improvement in the cognitive function of the middle-aged and older people who lived in a relatively safe (OR=0.75, 95%CI 0.57-1.00) and a safer (OR=0.72, 95%CI 0.55-0.95) community, in a relatively enthusiastic (OR=0.69, 95%CI 0.56-0.85) and a more enthusiastic (OR=0.70, 95%CI 0.57-0.87) community, and in a less harmonious (OR=0.57, 95%CI 0.34-0.94), relatively harmonious (OR=0.52, 95%CI 0.33-0.83) and more harmonious (OR=0.49, 95%CI 0.31-0.79) community during their childhood. Conclusion: There is a significantly positive relationship between the quality of residential community in childhood and cognitive function of the middle-aged and older people.