Association between marital status and dementia among older adults population: the Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the association between marital status and dementia in older Chinese adults. METHODS: Using the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey dataset, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving 13,982 older adults with dementia. Marital status was categorized as married and unmarried (divorced, widowed, or never married). An adjusted logistic regression model was employed to examine the association between marital status and dementia. Additionally, interaction and subgroup analyses were utilized to explore the effects of marital status and other factors on the occurrence of dementia. RESULTS: After confounder adjusting, unmarried participants exhibited higher odds ratio (OR:1.46, 95 % CI:1.06-1.99) for dementia. Interaction analysis revealed both multiplicative and additive interactions between being unmarried and being aged ≥ 85 years. Subgroup analysis results indicated that unmarried participants (specifically those aged ≥ 85 years, males, living in town or rural areas, not currently exercising, and having a sleep duration of ≥ 8 h) were more significantly associated with dementia prevalence. CONCLUSION: Unmarried status is a significant risk factor for dementia among older adults in China.