Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Cognitive Impairment in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study

Jinyoung Shin, Seol-Heui Han and Jaekyung Choi
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Jinyoung Shin: Department of Family Medicine, Research Institute on Healthy aging, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul 05030, Korea
Seol-Heui Han: Department of Neurology, Research Institute on Healthy aging, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul 05030, Korea
Jaekyung Choi: Department of Family Medicine, Research Institute on Healthy aging, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Konkuk University Medical Center, Seoul 05030, Korea

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-13

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between ambient air pollutants and cognitive impairment in Korean older adults. The cognitive function of 2,896 participants aged 70 to 84 years was measured using the Korean version of the mini-mental state examination, the digit span test, the word list learning test, and the frontal assessment battery. After matching the average concentrations of particulate matter (PM) <10 μm in size (PM 10 ) and <2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), NO 2 , CO, SO 2 , and O 3 between 2013 and 2017, the association between air pollutants and cognitive scales was analyzed using a linear mixed regression and a multiple logistic regression analysis (after adjusting for age, sex, health related behaviors, socioeconomic status, comorbidity, and meteorological data). Exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , SO 2 , and CO was associated with cognitive impairment above and beyond age or education level effects. Specifically, PM 2.5 was negatively associated with most components of the cognitive scales (interquartile range for PM 2.5 : 2.0 μg/m 3 , odds ratio for poor global cognition: 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.60–3.26). These associations may be affected by sex, residence area, or alcohol intake. Conclusively, air pollutants, especially PM 2.5 , were associated with cognitive impairment, including global cognition, attention, memory, and executive function in Korean older adults aged ≥70 years.

Keywords: air pollution; aged; particulate matter; memory; cognition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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