Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41289578›Full record

ArticleJMIR aging2025

Technology Activities and Cognitive Trajectories Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Erh-Chi Hsu, Erin M Spaulding, Eric Jutkowitz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR aging, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Erh-Chi Hsu *School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States, 1 2066175816.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-8238-2645
Erin M Spaulding *School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, 525 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, United States, 1 2066175816.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8390-2277
Eric Jutkowitz *School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1735-8434

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: While the positive effects of digital technology on cognitive function are established, the specific impacts of different types of technology activities on distinct cognitive domains remain underexplored. Objective: This study aimed to examine the associations between transitions into and out of various technology activities and trajectories of cognitive domains among community-dwelling older adults without dementia. Methods: Data were drawn from 5566 community-dwelling older adults without dementia who participated in the National Health and Aging Trends Study from 2015 to 2022. Technology activities assessed included online shopping, banking, medication refills, social media use, and checking health conditions online. The cognitive domains measured were episodic memory, executive function, and orientation. Asymmetric effects models were used to analyze the associations between technology activity transitions and cognitive outcomes, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates. Lagged models were applied for sensitivity analysis. Results: In the asymmetric effects models, the onset of online shopping (β=.046, P=.02), medication refills (β=.073, P<.001), and social media use (β=.065, P=.01) was associated with improved episodic memory. The cessation of online shopping was associated with faster episodic memory decline (β=-.023, P=.047). In contrast, the cessation of online banking (β=-.078, P=.01) and social media use (β=-.066, P=.003) was associated with decreased episodic memory. The initiation of instrumental, social, and health-related technology activities was associated with slower cognitive decline in orientation. The lagged models further emphasized the effects of stopping online banking and starting online medication refills in relation to episodic memory, as well as the positive associations between online shopping and social media use and orientation. All significant effects were of small magnitude. Conclusions: Combining findings from the main and sensitivity analyses, results suggest that interventions designed to support episodic memory in older adults should emphasize promoting the use of online medication refill services and sustaining engagement with online banking, particularly among those who have already established these habits. To support orientation, strategies should focus on facilitating adoption of online shopping and social media use, helping older adults become comfortable navigating these platforms. Future trials are needed to assess the clinical relevance of targeted interventions for specific cognitive domains, to promote the initiation and maintenance of digital activities to help mitigate domain-specific cognitive decline in aging populations.

Indexed as

AgingCognitionIndependent LivingAgedAged, 80 and overCognitive DysfunctionExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMaleMemory, EpisodicSocial MediaUnited Statesagingcognitive functiondigital activitiesNational Health and Aging Trends StudyNHATStechnology use

Identifiers

PMID41289578
PMCPMC12646554

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.