Association between home dwelling situations, neighborhood social interactions, and subjective cognitive decline plus among older adults: A cross-sectional study

Background Home-dwelling situations (HDS) and neighborhood social interactions (NSI) significantly impact older adults’ post-retirement lives. However, their relationship with subjective cognitive decline plus (SCD-plus), a potential biomarker of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD), remains uncertain. Objective To explore the association between NSI, HDS and SCD-plus among older adults. Methods This cross-sectional study utilized data from the Hubei Memory and Aging Cohort Study (HMACS, 2018–2022), examining the relationship between HDS, NSI, and SCD-plus status and feature scores, using logistic and linear regression models. Results Among 3514 adults (age: ≥ 65 y; female: 52.44%), 1329 had SCD-plus status (37.82%). After adjusting for covariates, living with spouse only was associated with lower odds of SCD-plus (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.55, 0.95]) compared to living alone. Frequent NSI was linked to lower odds of SCD-plus (OR = 0.65, 95% CI [0.54, 0.80]) and reduced feature scores (regression coefficient [β] = −0.16, 95% CI [−0.25, −0.07]). Compared to living alone – no NSI, all other combinations showed better SCD-plus status, especially living with spouse only with frequent NSI, which demonstrated a 55% reduction in likelihood (OR = 0.45, 95% CI [0.28, 0.73]). Conclusions Living with spouse only and frequent NSI significantly lowers the odds of SCD-plus, providing a basis for further exploration of the impact of social interactions on cognitive health.