Associação entre altruísmo, voluntariado e performance cognitiva em idosos da comunidade

Abstract

Recent studies have pointed out that altruistic behaviors are associated with better physical and mental health. However, it is not well determined whether it would be volunteering itself or the altruistic characteristic of the person who would act as a protective factor against cognitive decline. The objective was to assess whether altruism and volunteering would be associated differently with cognitive function in active elderly in the community. The methodology used was a longitudinal study in active elderly. Sociodemographic data, altruism (Self-Informed Altruism Scale), volunteering (volunteer days), cognitive status (through a cognitive battery) and factors associated with cognition (depression, social support, religiosity, spirituality, among others) were evaluated. . Models were created without adjustment and adjusted in order to understand the relationship between altruism and volunteering with cognitive performance. The data were evaluated in two moments. In the crosssectional assessment (312 elderly), it was found that altruism, but not volunteering, was associated with a higher score in the Mini-Mental State Examination (Beta = 0.148, p <0.05) and in verbal fluency (0.219, p <0.001). In the two-year follow-up (291 elderly people - 93.2% of the total), it was found that altruism in the baseline was associated with the highest Mini-mental score, clock test, verbal fluency and CERAD word list after two years and baseline volunteering was associated only with the verbal fluency score. On the other hand, when analyzing the change in cognition in these two years (Delta: Score after two years - Score in the baseline), only volunteering in the baseline, but not altruism, was significantly associated with the smaller decrease in cognitive performance by verbal fluency and evoking CERAD. This longitudinal study corroborates the data in the current literature that altruistic behaviors are associated with better cognitive performance. However, there is a difference in the effect of volunteering (more associated with participation and social engagement) in relation to the effect related to altruistic behavior (a more intrinsic characteristic). These findings may help to understand this new field of research for health.