Leisure Participation and Cognitive Impairment Among Healthy Older Adults in China

Leisure participation is beneficial to various health outcomes. This study examined a comprehensive list of leisure activities in relation to incidence of cognitive impairment among healthy older adults (65+) in China. Using data from the 2002 to 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, we found that most of the leisure activities were protective of cognitive decline and three leisure activities (watching TV, doing housework, and playing cards/mah-jong) stood out as the most important ones. Additionally, our results revealed subgroup variations in the association between leisure participation and cognitive function: Leisure activities such as reading newspapers/books (not significant for the illiterate), gardening (not significant for the illiterate), and regular exercise (not significant for the rural residents) had different effects across different demographic social groups. Our findings suggest that intervention programs designed to prevent cognitive decline for older adults should consider subgroup and cultural variations in order to yield the best outcomes.