Presentation Information
[P-6-04]Positive association between religiosity and cognitive functions in Korean elderly with Alzheimer’s disease
*Do Hoon Kim, Yoosun Moon (Hallym University (Korea))
Keywords:
Alzheimer’s disease,cognitive function,religion
Objectives: We investigated the relationship between religiosity and the sub-domains of cognitive function of patients with AD. Methods: We recruited 263 AD patients from the psychiatry out-patient clinic. The Korean version of the Consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease (CERAD-K) was used to investigate different domains of cognitive functions in AD patients. Religiosity was measured using Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) that assess organizational (ORA) and private religious practices (NORA), and intrinsic religiosity (IR). We compared cognitive functions between Christianity, Buddhism, and religiously non-affiliated group. Additionally, a hierarchical stepwise multiple regression was used to determine the relationship between ORA, NORA, and IR and sub-domains of cognitive function. Results: The Christianity group showed better functioning in memory and constructional praxis than the religiously non-affiliated group, while the Buddhism group did not. In multiple regression analysis, ORA showed positive relationships with constructional praxis and word list memory, while NORA and IR were positively associated with MMSE-KC and word list recall, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the superiority in the cognitive functions of the Christianity group may be associated with high level of religious activities and intrinsic religiosity that significantly influenced memory and visuospatial ability in the elderly with AD.