Centre for Policy on Ageing



Influence of social network on occurrence of dementia — a community-based longitudinal study
Author(s)	Laura Fratiglioni, Hui-Xin Wang, Kjerstin Ericsson
Journal title	The Lancet, vol 355, no 9212, 15 April 2000
Pages	pp 1315-1319
Keywords	Social contacts ; Dementia ; Living in the community ; Longitudinal surveys ; Sweden.
Annotation	Few data are available on the effect of social ties on dementia development. This Swedish study of 1203 non-demented people from the Kungsholmen Project, explored whether single social network components and different degrees of the social connections affect dementia incidence. During a 3-year follow-up, 176 incident dementia cases - 126 Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 32 vascular dementia - were identified. Being single and living alone emerged as the strongest determinants of dementia, almost doubling the disease risk. Having children with frequent but unsatisfying contact was related to an increased incidence. When all components were combined in an index, a poor or limited social network increased the risk of dementia by 60%. Thus, an extensive social network seems to protect against dementia. Confirmation of this finding and further investigation to clarify the mechanisms are worthwhile, due to the implications for prevention. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-000508208 A
Classmark	TOA: EA: K4: 3J: 76P *
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.