Taking part in leisure activity in middle age does not appear to reduce dementia risk, finds a new UK study published in Neurology.
Previous studies had suggested that leisure activities such as playing cards or gardening may be associated with a lower risk of developing dementia. However, the new study, which examined the association between participation in leisure activities and incident dementia in a large longitudinal study, found no association between taking part in leisure activities at age 56 years and the risk of dementia over the next 18 years.
The study also found that some people who are later diagnosed with dementia stop participating in leisure activities years before they are diagnosed.
The researchers used data from 8280 participants of the Whitehall II prospective cohort study. A 13-item scale assessed leisure activity participation in 1997-1999, 2002-2004 and 2007-2009 and incidence of dementia (n cases=360, mean age at diagnosis, 76.2 years; incidence rate, 2.4 per 1000 person-years) was ascertained from three comprehensive national registers with a follow-up until March 2017. Primary analyses were based on complete cases (n=6050; n cases=247), and sensitivity analyses used multiple imputation for missing data.
Participation in leisure activities at a mean age of 55.8 years (1997-1999 assessment), with 18.0-year follow-up, was not associated with dementia (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.79-1.06), but those with higher participation at a mean age of 65.7 years (2007-2009 assessment) were less likely to develop dementia with an 8.3-year follow-up (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.98).
No specific type of leisure activity was consistently associated with dementia risk. Decline in participation between 1997-1999 and 2007-2009 was associated with a subsequent dementia risk. Thefindings suggest that participation in leisure activities declines in the preclinical phase of dementia.
Future research should investigate the socio-behavioural, cognitive and neurobiological drivers of decline in leisure activity participation to determine potential approaches to improving social participation of those developing dementia, the researchers said.
