Sustainable Participation in Community Health Programs to Promote a Healthy Lifestyle and Prevent and Protect against Dementia among Rural Taiwanese Middle-Aged and Older Adults

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发表日期：

2024年2月21日

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L. Chang,
Shu-Chuan Chen,
P.-Y. Lin,
M.-C. Chen,
L.-L. Liao,
H.-P. Lin,
Y.-Y. Tsao,
M.-C. Chen

摘要

Background

Resource and economic constraints limit access to health care in rural populations, and consequently, rates of chronic illnesses are higher in this population. Further, little is known about how rural populations adopt active and healthy lifestyle behavior for dementia prevention.

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the impact of modification in lifestyle behaviors on changes in cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults living in a rural area of Taiwan.

Design

In this prospective longitudinal study, changes in lifestyle and cognitive function were compared between the experimental and control groups.

Setting

Six rural community care stations were randomly cluster sampled in southern Taiwan.

Participants

A total of 155 participants were enrolled and classified into two groups according to their community activity participation rate (CAPR). The control group (n=68) had a CAPR < 1x/month, and the experimental group (n=87) had a CAPR ≥ 1x/month.

Measurements

Cognitive function of the participants was measured using the MMSE scale. Lifestyle behaviors were measured using a self-designed questionnaire based on the Transtheoretical Model.

Results

From 2018–2020, the experimental group successfully maintained a healthy lifestyle. The MMSE score in the experimental group was significantly higher in the 3rd year than that in the control group (25.37 vs 22.56, p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Sustainable community participation and adopting a healthy lifestyle could effectively maintain the cognitive function of the study participants. However, more needs to be done to support rural older adults to maintain a healthy diet and control their weight.