Underweight, tobacco and alcohol consumption tied to poor cognition in older age

Weaker cognitive function appears to be more prevalent in older adults who are underweight and who engage in alcohol consumption and tobacco use, a recent India study has found.

Drawing from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, the researchers examined 52,665 adults aged 45 years and above. The main outcome measure was cognitive capacity, measured using a composite index that looked at memory, orientation, arithmetic function, executive function, and the ability to name objects.

Of a total maximum score of 41, earning 0–15 points was deemed to be low cognition, 16–30 as medium, and 31–41 as high.

Almost half (47 percent) of the enrolled participants were above the age of 60 years, while 53.7 percent were women. Half were found to be malnourished and 21 percent were underweight. Moreover, 12 percent of the study samples consumed both alcohol and tobacco, 26 percent used only tobacco, and 3 percent drank only alcohol.

Being underweight was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of having low cognition (adjusted odds ratio [OR], –0.38, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –0.44 to 0.32; p<0.01).

The same was true for alcohol (adjusted OR, –0.13, 95 percent CI, –0.23 to 0.03; p=0.011) or tobacco (adjusted OR, –0.08, 95 percent CI, –0.014 to 0.03; p=0.013) consumption, individually, as well as the consumption of both (adjusted OR, –0.18, 95 percent CI, –0.25 to 0.11; p<0.01).

“As the study findings are indicative of the effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption on cognitive function, robust community-level awareness programs on the ill effects of alcohol-tobacco consumption can potentially help to deal with these behavioural risk factors of low cognition among the older population,” the researchers said.