Abstract

ESTEVE ESTEVE, Miguel  and  COLLADO GIL, Ángel. Reading as a protective factor against cognitive decline. Gac Sanit [online]. 2013, vol.27, n.1, pp.68-71. ISSN 0213-9111.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gaceta.2012.04.016.

Objective: To determine whether reading is a protective factor against cognitive decline in the population aged over 65 years. Methods: We performed an unmatched case-control study in the Fuente de San Luis Health Center in Valencia, Spain. A total of 153 subjects aged more than 65 years old were studied, corresponding to 51 cases and 102 controls. Cognitive impairment was measured by the version of the Mini-Mental State Examination adapted and validated to Spanish. Reading habits were assessed with the scale of the Federación de Gremios y Editores de España. Results: Logistic regression showed a significant association with the habit of frequent reading for more than 5 years, complete primary school education, and age lower than 75 years. Conclusions: Reading is a protective factor against cognitive impairment. This protection is greater in frequent readers with a history of reading of over 5 years.

Keywords : Cognitive impairment; Reading; Education.

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