Why is Education Important to Prevent Cognitive Impairment? A Cross-Sectional Study in Jakarta Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Cognitive impairment may lead to dementia, which can affect the elderly quality of life.
Improving awareness and prevention of dementia risk factors become very essential to prevent cognitive
impairment, and one of the effort is through.
Objective: This study aimed at observing the relationship between elderly characteristics as dementia risk
factors with cognitive impairment incidence.
Method: Descriptive study with a cross-sectional approach was used. The population was elderly who
resided in Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. A sample of 341 elderlies, aged 60 years old or
above was selected and screened through multistage random sampling. Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact tests
used to analyze the data.
Results: The results of dementia screening using CDT found as much as 91.8 %elderly were suffered from
cognitive impairments. There was a significant correlation between sex and educational background with
cognitive impairment(p=0.003 and p=0.005).
Conclusions: Educational background can affect individual’s cognitive level. Elderly is expected to keep
stimulating their cognitive, socializing, and maintaining their physical exercise.