Altruistic behaviour, but not volunteering, has been associated with cognitive performance in community‐dwelling older persons

Sep 28, 2018Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society

Altruistic behavior, but not volunteering, is linked to thinking skills in older adults living in the community

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Abstract

A total of 312 older adults were evaluated, showing that greater altruistic behaviour is associated with higher cognitive performance.

Higher scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination were linked to greater altruistic behaviour (β = 0.148, P < 0.05).
Greater performance on the verbal fluency test was associated with higher levels of altruistic behaviour (β = 0.219, P < 0.001).
No association was found between volunteering and cognitive test scores.
The study highlights a potential link between altruistic behaviour and cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults.
These findings suggest that altruism may play a role in maintaining cognitive health.

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AIM: Studies have indicated that altruistic behaviour may be associated with better health. Nevertheless, it has not been determined if volunteering acts as a protective factor against cognitive decline or if a person's altruistic character does so. This study aims to evaluate whether altruistic behaviour and volunteering are associated with better cognitive function in active community-dwelling older persons.

METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in healthy older persons. Sociodemographics, altruistic behaviour (self-report altruism scale), volunteering (days volunteered), cognitive state (cognitive assessment battery), and factors associated with cognition (e.g. depression, social support, functional status, and religiosity) were evaluated. Adjusted and non-adjusted models were created in order to understand the relationship of altruistic behaviour and volunteering with cognitive performance.

RESULTS: A total of 312 older adults were evaluated; 89.4% were women, and the mean age was 69.6 years. In the linear regression models, greater altruistic behaviour was associated with higher scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (β = 0.148, P < 0.05) and the verbal fluency test (β = 0.219, P < 0.001), even after adjustments. In contrast, volunteering was not associated with any of the cognitive tests used.

CONCLUSION: Altruistic behaviour seems to have a role in older persons' cognition, with more altruistic people tending to have greater cognitive performance. These findings can assist in developing mechanisms that can help keep older people more cognitively active and serve as the foundation for future interventions and studies in this area.

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Altruistic behaviour, but not volunteering, has been associated with cognitive performance in community‐dwelling older persons

Abstract

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