Technology Activities and Cognitive Trajectories Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: National Health and Aging Trends Study

TL;DR

Using digital technology like online shopping and social media may help older adults maintain certain cognitive abilities, while stopping these activities could speed up cognitive decline.

Contribution

This study identifies specific technology activities linked to cognitive domain trajectories in older adults, offering targeted intervention suggestions.

Findings

Starting online shopping, medication refills, and social media use improves episodic memory.

Stopping online banking and social media use is linked to faster episodic memory decline.

Initiating technology activities is associated with slower decline in orientation.

Abstract

While the positive effects of digital technology on cognitive function are established, the specific impacts of different types of technology activities on distinct cognitive domains remain underexplored.

This study aimed to examine the associations between transitions into and out of various technology activities and trajectories of cognitive domains among community-dwelling older adults without dementia.

Data were drawn from 5566 community-dwelling older adults without dementia who participated in the National Health and Aging Trends Study from 2015 to 2022. Technology activities assessed included online shopping, banking, medication refills, social media use, and checking health conditions online. The cognitive domains measured were episodic memory, executive function, and orientation. Asymmetric effects models were used to analyze the associations between technology activity transitions and cognitive outcomes, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates. Lagged models were applied for sensitivity analysis.

In the asymmetric effects models, the onset of online shopping (β=.046, P=.02), medication refills (β=.073, P<.001), and social media use (β=.065, P=.01) was associated with improved episodic memory. The cessation of online shopping was associated with faster episodic memory decline (β=−.023, P=.047). In contrast, the cessation of online banking (β=−.078, P=.01) and social media use (β=−.066, P=.003) was associated with decreased episodic memory. The initiation of instrumental, social, and health-related technology activities was associated with slower cognitive decline in orientation. The lagged models further emphasized the effects of stopping online banking and starting online medication refills in relation to episodic memory, as well as the positive associations between online shopping and social media use and orientation. All significant effects were of small magnitude.

Combining findings from the main and sensitivity analyses, results suggest that interventions designed to support episodic memory in older adults should emphasize promoting the use of online medication refill services and sustaining engagement with online banking, particularly among those who have already established these habits. To support orientation, strategies should focus on facilitating adoption of online shopping and social media use, helping older adults become comfortable navigating these platforms. Future trials are needed to assess the clinical relevance of targeted interventions for specific cognitive domains, to promote the initiation and maintenance of digital activities to help mitigate domain-specific cognitive decline in aging populations.