Effect of Low and High Social Participation and Onset of Hypertension on the Risk of Cognitive Impairment among Older Adults: Evidence from Longitudinal Ageing Study in India

Khushboo Ahire, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
Waquar Ahmed, School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

The study aimed to examine the effect of low and high social participation based on the age at the onset and duration of hypertension on the risk of cognitive impairments among older adults aged 60 years and above in India using survival analysis. The current study utilizes the data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), wave-1, 2017-18, with a total sample size of 31,902. We used Cox proportional hazard models to examine the relationship between low and high social engagement and the risk of cognitive impairments among hypertensive individuals. The estimated adjusted hazards ratio indicates that hypertensive individuals with social engagement were at decreased risk of cognitive impairments (aHR: 0.80, CI: 0.65-0.99) than those without social engagement. Conversely, older adults with hypertension who had low social participation were at higher risk of cognitive impairments (aHR: 2.54, CI: 0.1.13-5.71) compared to those with high social engagement. The Kaplan- Meier survival graphs show that cognitive impairments occurred earlier among those hypertensive individuals who had no social engagement and low social engagement. These findings emphasize the protective effects of social engagement against cognitive impairment in hypertensive older adults, particularly for women and those living in rural areas.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, Population Ageing, Longitudinal studies , Population and Development

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