IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i6p2820-d514408.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social and Built Environments Related to Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Multi-Level Analysis Study in Taiwan

Author

Listed:
  • Hui-Chuan Hsu

    (School of Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 11031 Taipei, Taiwan
    Research Center of Health Equity, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 11031 Taipei, Taiwan)

  • Chyi-Huey Bai

    (School of Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 11031 Taipei, Taiwan
    Research Center of Health Equity, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 11031 Taipei, Taiwan
    Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between cognitive function, the city’s social environment, and individual characteristics of older adults. The individual data of older people were from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan 2013–2016. The participants who were aged 65 and above were included in the analysis ( n = 1356). City-level data were obtained for twenty cities in Taiwan. The data of city-level indicators were from governmental open data and Taiwan’s Age Friendly Environment Monitor Study. A multilevel mixed-effect model was applied in the analysis. Population density, median income, safety in the community, barrier-free sidewalks, high education rate of the population, low-income population rate, household income inequality, and elderly abuse rate were related to cognitive function in the bivariate analysis. When controlling for individual factors, the city’s low-income population rate was still significantly related to lower cognitive function. In addition, the participants who were at younger age, had a higher education level, had a better financial satisfaction, had worse self-rated health, had higher numbers of disease, and had better physical function had better cognitive function. Social and built environments associated with cognitive function highlight the importance of income security and the age friendliness of the city for older adults. Income security for older people and age-friendly city policies are suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui-Chuan Hsu & Chyi-Huey Bai, 2021. "Social and Built Environments Related to Cognitive Function of Older Adults: A Multi-Level Analysis Study in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2820-:d:514408
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2820/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/2820/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ailshire, Jennifer & Karraker, Amelia & Clarke, Philippa, 2017. "Neighborhood social stressors, fine particulate matter air pollution, and cognitive function among older U.S. adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 56-63.
    2. Ye Luo & Lingling Zhang & Xi Pan & Deborah Carr, 2019. "Neighborhood Environments and Cognitive Decline Among Middle-Aged and Older People in China," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 74(7), pages 60-71.
    3. Friedman, Esther M. & Shih, Regina A. & Slaughter, Mary E. & Weden, Margaret M. & Cagney, Kathleen A., 2017. "Neighborhood age structure and cognitive function in a nationally-representative sample of older adults in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 149-158.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Atsushi Motohiro & Takafumi Abe & Kenta Okuyama & Keiichi Onoda & Tomoko Ito & Minoru Isomura & Toru Nabika & Shunichi Kumakura, 2021. "Environmental Factors Affecting Cognitive Function among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-9, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Liwen & Cheng, Zhiming & Tani, Massimiliano & Cook, Sarah & Zhao, Jiaqi & Chen, Xi, 2022. "Air Pollution and Entrepreneurship," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1196, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Finlay, Jessica & Esposito, Michael & Langa, Kenneth M. & Judd, Suzanne & Clarke, Philippa, 2022. "Cognability: An Ecological Theory of neighborhoods and cognitive aging," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    3. Shuyang Yu & Meng Wei, 2021. "The Influences of Community-Enriched Environment on the Cognitive Trajectories of Elderly People," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Balasooriya, Namal N. & Bandara, Jayatilleke S. & Rohde, Nicholas, 2022. "Air pollution and health outcomes: Evidence from Black Saturday Bushfires in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    5. Sharifian, Neika & Spivey, Briana N. & Zaheed, Afsara B. & Zahodne, Laura B., 2020. "Psychological distress links perceived neighborhood characteristics to longitudinal trajectories of cognitive health in older adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    6. Mina Chandra & Chandra Bhushan Rai & Neelam Kumari & Vipindeep Kaur Sandhu & Kalpana Chandra & Murali Krishna & Sri Harsha Kota & Kuljeet Singh Anand & Anna Oudin, 2022. "Air Pollution and Cognitive Impairment across the Life Course in Humans: A Systematic Review with Specific Focus on Income Level of Study Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-39, January.
    7. Chen, Xi & Lee, Chanam & Huang, Hao, 2022. "Neighborhood built environment associated with cognition and dementia risk among older adults: A systematic literature review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    8. Atsushi Motohiro & Takafumi Abe & Kenta Okuyama & Keiichi Onoda & Tomoko Ito & Minoru Isomura & Toru Nabika & Shunichi Kumakura, 2021. "Environmental Factors Affecting Cognitive Function among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-9, August.
    9. Pengcheng Liu & Jing Wang & Xiaojie Wang & Wenjie Nie & Fangfang Zhen, 2021. "Measuring the Association of Self-Perceived Physical and Social Neighborhood Environment with Health of Chinese Rural Residents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    10. Fletcher, Jason & Topping, Michael & Zheng, Fengyi & Lu, Qiongshi, 2021. "The effects of education on cognition in older age: Evidence from genotyped Siblings," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    11. Yuxiao Gao & Youhua Wang & Tao Rao, 2022. "The Effect of the Dwelling Environment on Rural Elderly Cognition: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Peng Nie & Yan Li & Lanlin Ding & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2021. "Housing Poverty and Healthy Aging in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-20, September.
    13. Lyons, Seán & Mao, Likun & Nolan, Anne & O’Sullivan, Vincent, 2023. "The effect of “smoky” coal bans on chronic lung disease among older people in Ireland," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    14. Jayeun Kim & Ho Kim, 2017. "Demographic and Environmental Factors Associated with Mental Health: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, April.
    15. Casey Mullen & Sara E. Grineski & Timothy W. Collins & Daniel L. Mendoza, 2020. "Effects of PM 2.5 on Third Grade Students’ Proficiency in Math and English Language Arts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-21, September.
    16. Yunwon Choi & Heeyeun Yoon & Danya Kim, 2019. "Where do people spend their leisure time on dusty days? Application of spatiotemporal behavioral responses to particulate matter pollution," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(2), pages 317-339, October.
    17. Rachel L. Peterson & Kristen M. George & Duyen Tran & Pallavi Malladi & Paola Gilsanz & Amy J. H. Kind & Rachel A. Whitmer & Lilah M. Besser & Oanh L. Meyer, 2021. "Operationalizing Social Environments in Cognitive Aging and Dementia Research: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Marica Cassarino & Eleanor Bantry-White & Annalisa Setti, 2020. "Neighbourhood Environment and Cognitive Vulnerability—A Survey Investigation of Variations Across the Lifespan and Urbanity Levels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-15, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2820-:d:514408. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.