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BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to examine how the effect of depressive symptoms on cognitive function is modified by church attendance. METHODS: We used a sample of 2759 older Mexican Americans. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline, 2, 5, 7, and 11 years of follow-up. Church attendance was dichotomized as frequent attendance (e.g., going to church at least once a month) versus infrequent attendance (e.g., never or several times a year). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; score >or=16 vs or=16 also had greater declines in MMSE scores (drop of 0.132 points more each year, SE = 0.03, p or=16, infrequent church attendees had greater decline in MMSE scores (drop of 0.236 points more each year, SE = 0.05, p <.001) compared to frequent church attendees at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Church attendance appears to be beneficial for maintaining cognitive function of older persons. Church attendance moderates the impact of clinically relevant depressive symptoms on subsequent cognitive function.
Ortíz et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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