Hiroyuki Hikichi1, Toru Tsuboya2, Jun Aida2, Yusuke Matsuyama2, Katsunori Kondo3,4, S V Subramanian1, Ichiro Kawachi1. 1. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. 2. Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, 4-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, JAPAN. 3. Center for Preventive Medical Sciences, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Chiba 260-8670, JAPAN. 4. Center for Gerontology and Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 7-430 Morioka-cho, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, JAPAN.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: We examined prospectively whether social capital mitigates the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline. METHODS: The baseline for our study was established seven months before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived 80 kilometers west of the epicenter (59.0% response rate). Approximately two and a half years after the disaster, the follow-up survey gathered information about personal experiences of disaster as well as incidence of cognitive disability (82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed by in-home assessment. FINDINGS: The experience of housing damage was associated with risk of cognitive impairment (coefficient = 0.04, 95% confidence interval: 0.02 to 0.06). Factor analysis of our analytic sample (n = 3,566) established two sub-scales of social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socializing and social participation). Fixed effects regression showed that informal socializing and social participation buffered the risk of cognitive decline resulting from housing damage. INTERPRETATION: Informal socializing and social participation may prevent cognitive impairment following natural disaster. FUNDING: National Institutes of Health (R01AG042463-04), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
BACKGROUND: We examined prospectively whether social capital mitigates the adverse effects of natural disaster on cognitive decline. METHODS: The baseline for our study was established seven months before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived 80 kilometers west of the epicenter (59.0% response rate). Approximately two and a half years after the disaster, the follow-up survey gathered information about personal experiences of disaster as well as incidence of cognitive disability (82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was cognitive disability (measured on an 8-level scale) assessed by in-home assessment. FINDINGS: The experience of housing damage was associated with risk of cognitive impairment (coefficient = 0.04, 95% confidence interval: 0.02 to 0.06). Factor analysis of our analytic sample (n = 3,566) established two sub-scales of social capital: a cognitive dimension (perceptions of community social cohesion) and a structural dimension (informal socializing and social participation). Fixed effects regression showed that informal socializing and social participation buffered the risk of cognitive decline resulting from housing damage. INTERPRETATION: Informal socializing and social participation may prevent cognitive impairment following natural disaster. FUNDING: National Institutes of Health (R01AG042463-04), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Authors: Katie E Cherry; L Joseph Su; David A Welsh; Sandro Galea; S Michal Jazwinski; Jennifer L Silva; Marla J Erwin Journal: J Appl Soc Psychol Date: 2010-10
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