Loughborough University
Browse
internet and dementia final_rev_ (1).pdf (272.88 kB)

Is use of the internet in midlife associated with lower dementia incidence? Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Download (272.88 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2017-09-18, 13:26 authored by Eleonora d'Orsi, Andre Junqueira Xavier, Snorri Bjorn Rafnsson, Andrew Steptoe, Eef HogervorstEef Hogervorst, Martin Orrell
Objectives: Dementia is expected to affect one million individuals in the United Kingdom by 2025; its prodromal phase may start decades before its clinical onset. The aim of this study is to investigate whether use of internet from 50 years of age is associated with a lower incidence of dementia over a ten-year follow-up. Methods: We analysed data based on 8,238 dementia free (at baseline in 2002–2004) core participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Information on baseline use of internet was obtained through questionnaires; dementia casesness was based on participant (or informant) reported physician diagnosed dementia or overall score on the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used for examining the relationship between internet use and incident dementia. Results: There were 301 (5.01%) incident dementia cases during the follow-up. After full multivariable adjustment for potential confounding factors, baseline internet use was associated with a 40% reduction in dementia risk assessed between 2006–2012 (HR = 0.60 CI: 0.42–0.85; p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study suggests that use of internet by individuals aged 50 years or older is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Additional studies are needed to better understand the potential causal mechanisms underlying this association.

Funding

PRIDE study is funded by Economic and Social Research Council/UK, The funding is provided by the National Institute of Aging in the United States [grant number 4RO1AG017644-14], and a consortium of UK government departments coordinated by the Office for National Statistics. A Steptoe is supported by the British Heart Foundation. Ed ’Orsi received funding from from National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq–Brazil) [grant number 303863/201]

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

Aging and Mental Health

Pages

1 - 9

Citation

D'ORSI, E. ...et al., 2017. Is use of the internet in midlife associated with lower dementia incidence? Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Aging and Mental Health, 22 (11), pp.1525-1533.

Publisher

© Taylor & Francis

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Publication date

2017

Notes

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Aging and Mental Health on 10 Aug 2017, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2017.1360840

ISSN

1360-7863

eISSN

1364-6915

Language

  • en

Usage metrics

    Loughborough Publications

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC