TY - JOUR
T1 - Indoor air pollution and cognitive function among older Mexican adults
AU - Saenz, Joseph L.
AU - Wong, Rebeca
AU - Ailshire, Jennifer A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding This study was conducted with the support of the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging grants (T32AG000037, P30AG043073, R01AG018016 and R00AG039528). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Funding Information:
well-being. The MHAS is partly sponsored by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (grant number NIH R01AG018016). Data files and documentation are public use and available at http://www.MHASweb.org. There were 15 723 respondents in 2012. Our eligibility criteria include being over the age of 50 and having complete information on independent variables and at least one cognitive domain. We excluded 851 respondents under the age of 50; 1235 proxy interviews; 65 who could not be classified based on cooking fuel; 280 with incomplete information on covariates; and 269 without information on any cognitive assessment, resulting in an analytic sample size of 13 023.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Article author(s).
PY - 2018/1
Y1 - 2018/1
N2 - Background: A growing body of research suggests exposure to high levels of outdoor air pollution may negatively affect cognitive functioning in older adults, but less is known about the link between indoor sources of air pollution and cognitive functioning. We examine the association between exposure to indoor air pollution and cognitive function among older adults in Mexico, a developing country where combustion of biomass for domestic energy remains common. Method: Data come from the 2012 Wave of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. The analytic sample consists of 13 023 Mexican adults over age 50. Indoor air pollution is assessed by the reported use of wood or coal as the household's primary cooking fuel. Cognitive function is measured with assessments of verbal learning, verbal recall, attention, orientation and verbal fluency. Ordinary least squares regression is used to examine cross-sectional differences in cognitive function according to indoor air pollution exposure while accounting for demographic, household, health and economic characteristics. Results: Approximately 16% of the sample reported using wood or coal as their primary cooking fuel, but this was far more common among those residing in the most rural areas (53%). Exposure to indoor air pollution was associated with poorer cognitive performance across all assessments, with the exception of verbal recall, even in fully adjusted models. Conclusions: Indoor air pollution may be an important factor for the cognitive health of older Mexican adults. Public health efforts should continue to develop interventions to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution in rural Mexico.
AB - Background: A growing body of research suggests exposure to high levels of outdoor air pollution may negatively affect cognitive functioning in older adults, but less is known about the link between indoor sources of air pollution and cognitive functioning. We examine the association between exposure to indoor air pollution and cognitive function among older adults in Mexico, a developing country where combustion of biomass for domestic energy remains common. Method: Data come from the 2012 Wave of the Mexican Health and Aging Study. The analytic sample consists of 13 023 Mexican adults over age 50. Indoor air pollution is assessed by the reported use of wood or coal as the household's primary cooking fuel. Cognitive function is measured with assessments of verbal learning, verbal recall, attention, orientation and verbal fluency. Ordinary least squares regression is used to examine cross-sectional differences in cognitive function according to indoor air pollution exposure while accounting for demographic, household, health and economic characteristics. Results: Approximately 16% of the sample reported using wood or coal as their primary cooking fuel, but this was far more common among those residing in the most rural areas (53%). Exposure to indoor air pollution was associated with poorer cognitive performance across all assessments, with the exception of verbal recall, even in fully adjusted models. Conclusions: Indoor air pollution may be an important factor for the cognitive health of older Mexican adults. Public health efforts should continue to develop interventions to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution in rural Mexico.
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U2 - 10.1136/jech-2017-209704
DO - 10.1136/jech-2017-209704
M3 - Article
C2 - 29101214
AN - SCOPUS:85041748240
SN - 0143-005X
VL - 72
SP - 21
EP - 26
JO - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
IS - 1
ER -