Food Insecurity and Cognitive Trajectories in Community-Dwelling Medicare Beneficiaries 65 Years and Older

Abstract

ImportanceFood insecurity has a known association with prevalent impaired cognition. However, it is unknown whether food insecurity has a longitudinal association with cognitive decline among older adults.ObjectiveTo determine whether food insecurity is associated with a faster decline in cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis retrospective cohort study used data from a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older recruited for the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Community-dwelling NHATS participants were followed up for a maximum of 7 years (mean [SD] follow-up duration, 5.4 [1.1] years). Data were collected from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2020, and analyzed from December 23, 2021, to December 6, 2022.ExposuresSelf-reported food insecurity assessed from 2012 to 2019.Main Outcomes and MeasuresPrimary outcomes were immediate memory, delayed memory, and executive function collected from 2013 to 2020. Immediate and delayed recall were assessed by a 10-item word-list memory task (range, 0-10, with higher scores indicating more words recalled). Executive function was measured by the clock drawing test (range, 0-5, with higher scores indicating more accurate depiction of a clock). Each year’s cognitive functions were linked to the prior year’s food insecurity data. Linear mixed-effects models with random slopes and intercepts were used to examine the association between food insecurity and cognitive decline. Analytic weights in each year were applied to represent community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older in 2011.ResultsOf 3037 participants, a weighted 57.8% (raw count, 1345) were younger than 75 years, 56.2% (raw count, 1777) were women, and most (84.9% [raw count, 2268]) were White. Over 7 years, 417 (weighted proportion, 12.1%) experienced food insecurity at least once. Food insecurity was associated with a faster decline in executive function in a fully adjusted model: the mean difference of annual change in executive function score between people exposed to and not exposed to food insecurity was −0.04 (95% CI, −0.09 to −0.003) points. However, food insecurity was not associated with changes in immediate and delayed memory (0.01 [95% CI, −0.05 to 0.08] and −0.01 [95% CI, −0.08 to 0.06], respectively).Conclusions and RelevanceAmong community-dwelling older adults, food insecurity was prevalent and associated with a decline in executive function. Interventions and policies aiming to increase healthy food access or reduce food insecurity should be assessed for their impact on older adults’ cognitive outcome.