The Cognitive Health Risk of Social Isolation Mediated by Dietary Risks: A Study with Older Korean Americans

OBJECTIVES: Building upon the widely known link between social isolation and cognitive health among older adults, we examined the mediating role of dietary risk in older Korean Americans. We anticipate that social isolation increases dietary risk, which in turn leads to the risk of cognitive impairment. METHODS: Drawing data from the Study of Older Korean Americans (N=2,061, mean age = 73 years), we examined the predictive models with social isolation as an exposure, dietary risk as a mediator, and cognitive impairment as an outcome. RESULTS: Supporting the hypotheses, we found that being isolated was associated with having cognitive impairment and that dietary risk served as an intervening step between social isolation and cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the negative impact of social isolation on cognitive health is through its role in dietary habits and practice. Findings helped our understanding of how social isolation yields cognitive health risks and called attention to dietary risks in cognitive health promotion efforts. Targeted approaches should be taken for older immigrants who are socially isolated.