Background and Objectives

Previous systemic reviews, predominantly including observational studies, have shown that participation in social activities is a protective factor against cognitive decline. However, this association is subject to potential reverse causality, creating a knowledge gap in our understanding of the effect of social interaction interventions on cognitive function. Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials to examine the effects of social interaction interventions on cognitive decline among older adults without dementia.

Research Design and Methods

This systematic review, registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022367828), systematically searched six databases from inception to May 6, 2022, to identify relevant articles on the effects of activities with social interaction components on cognitive function in community-dwelling older adults without dementia aged over 60. Two independent reviewers conducted study selection, data extraction, and bias assessment, with RevMan5.3 used for meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis was conducted to assess variation in intervention effects among subgroups.

Results

We included 11 studies for qualitative analysis and eight studies for the meta-analysis. The result showed that social interaction intervention had a significant effect on executive function (SMD = 1.60; 95% CI, 0.50 to 2.70; P = 0.004), but not attention and memory. The subgroup analysis showed a greater cognitive benefit for healthy older adults, but not those with mild cognitive impairment. Moreover, in-person social interaction positively impacted global cognition, whereas online interaction did not.

Discussion and Implications

Social interaction interventions have a limited impact on cognitive function in older adults without dementia but showed potential effects on executive function. This finding offers insights for implementing social intervention in the community.

© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.