Association between social connectedness and mild cognitive impairment: A case-control study in aging rural Indians

There is a scarcity of evidence on the association between social connectedness and cognitive impairment in the rural Indian population. This cross-sectional study included rural Indians aged 45+ years (n = 5805) from an ongoing aging cohort, the CBR-SANSCOG study. Based on Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), participants were classified into cognitively normal (CN, CDR = 0) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI, CDR = 0.5). Social networks, assessed across three dimensions (network diversity, size, and embeddedness), were compared between the two groups, adjusting for potential confounders. Individuals with MCI had significantly lower mean scores across all three social network dimensions than CN individuals.