Links between Hobbies, Activities, Volunteering, and Cognitive Function in Mexican Older Men and Women

TL;DR

This study explores how hobbies and social activities affect cognitive function in older Mexican adults, finding that these activities are linked to better memory and other cognitive skills.

Contribution

The study reveals how different activities impact cognitive function differently based on education level in a Mexican population.

Findings

Hobbies and indoor activities are associated with better memory, language, and executive function.

Lower-educated individuals benefit more from certain activities like talking to friends and home maintenance.

Volunteering and community activities do not show significant cognitive benefits.

Abstract

Engagement in cognitively stimulating activities throughout life may support cognitive function and help prevent decline. Social participation is linked to better cognitive outcomes in older adults in high-income countries; however, benefits may be more pronounced in populations who had historically limited access to stimulating opportunities in early-life (e.g., wide access to high-quality education). We used data from the 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study and 2016 Mex-Cog study, including comprehensive neuropsychological tests assessing multiple cognitive domains (n = 1,968). We considered both the number of activities in two activity domains: hobbies and indoor activities, and volunteering and community activities, and individual activities within each domain. We employed linear regression models to assess relationships across cognitive domains. Hobbies and indoor activities were associated with better memory, language, visuospatial ability, executive function, and orientation. Volunteering and community activities showed no significant associations. Engagement in all individual hobbies and indoor activities, except watching television, were linked to better cognitive functions. Education-stratified analyses revealed that activities such as talking to friends, performing home maintenance, and attending sporting clubs were associated with better cognitive function among individuals with lower education but not among those with higher education. These associations were largely consistent between men and women. Findings provide nuanced evidence on the role of leisure and social activities in cognitive function among older Mexican adults, highlighting similarities and differences across education. Moving forward, we will examine health-related selection into activity participation using prior waves and use 2021 Mex-Cog data to assess changes across domains over five years.