Neurology Peking University study: How to carry out leisure activities to better prevent dementia?

Leisure activities are a major component of an adaptable healthy lifestyle and are thought to help prevent the onset
of dementia.
To assess the effects of different types of leisure activities, including cognitive, physical and social activities, on the incidence of all-cause dementia (ACD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VD), scholars from the Beijing Sixth Hospital affiliated to Peking University conducted a meta-analysis, the results of which were published in
the journal Neurology.

The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Cochrane, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases to identify longitudinal studies
examining the relationship between leisure activities and dementia.
Relative risks (RRs) and 95% CIs were pooled
using random-effects meta-analysis.
Subgroup analyses were used to estimate potential effect modifiers
.
The study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42019116857).

Results included a total of 38 longitudinal studies with 2154818 participants at baseline, with 74,700 cases of ACD, 2,848 cases of AD, and 1,423 cases of VD during follow-up
.
Subgroup analysis showed that physical (RR = 0.
83, 95% CI 0.
78 to 0.
88), cognitive (RR = 0.
77; 95% CI 0.
68 to 0.
87), and social (RR = 0.
93; 95% CI 0.
87 to 0.
99) activities were associated
with a reduced incidence of ACD.
In addition, physical activity (RR = 0.
87; 95% CI 0.
78 to 0.
96) and cognitive activity (RR = 0.
66; 95% CI 0.
52 to 0.
85) were associated
with a reduced risk of AD.
Physical activity (RR = 0.
67; 95% CI 0.
53 to 0.
85) was associated with
a lower incidence of VD.

The study shows that leisure activities are inversely proportional
to the risk of ACD, AD and VD.

References:

Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia：A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Neurology Oct 2022, 99 (15) e1651-e1663; DOI: 10.
1212/WNL.
0000000000200929