Artistic and cultural recreational activities as a protective factor for cognitive function in the elderly

Abstract

Introduction. Aging is a process that comes with a weakening of cognitive functions. Murillo recommends that the elderly perform recreational activities with intellectual, physical, and mental benefits. Goal. To uncover the link between high-level performance of recreational activities and normal cognitive function in the elderly patients of two care facilities in Mexico. Methodology. Observational, prospective, and analytical cross-study of 50 subjects from CASSAM and 52 subjects from the Jardín de los Adultos Mayores. A Likert scale was used to measure the performance of recreational activities, and the Folstein test was used to evaluate cognitive function. The statistical association between the variables was estimated via the chi-squared test for independence, and the average cognitive functions were compared via the Kruskal-Wallis test. Level of significance = 0.05. Results. The average cognitive function was 25.9 (95% confidence, 25.1-26.9) at CASSAM and 28.9 (95% confidence, 28.0-28.7) at the Jardín de los Adultos Mayores (p = 0.000). No significant association was found between the study variables (p = 0.106). The dimensions of the recreational activity were homogeneous in both institutions (p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in two aspects of cognitive function: attention and calculation (p = 0.001) and deferred memory (p = 0.002). Conclusion. Subjects from the Jardín de los Adultos Mayores presented a better cognitive function. This is probably due to the artistic and cultural activities offered at said facility.