ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2017
Personal Journal Keeping and Linguistic Complexity Predict Late-Life Dementia Risk: The Cache County Journal Pilot Study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Writing as cognitive rehabilitation in MCI and dementia: a systematic review of therapeutic benefits and applications.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Building a Human Digital Twin (HDTwin) Using Large Language Models for Cognitive Diagnosis: Algorithm Development and Validation.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Clinician Word Use in Dementia Evaluation Reports as a Function of Cognitive Impairment.Gerontology & geriatric medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe determined the feasibility of accessing personal journals and correlating markers of linguistic complexity with all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
methodA stratified random sample of 215 older adults reported on lifetime journal writing habits. From 66 of these participants (49% of those with journals), digital photographs of journal text were transcribed then subjected to the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count program to measure linguistic complexity markers: Words per Sentence, Percentage of 6+ Letter Words, Cognitive Mechanics, Percentage of Unique Words, and Percentage of Words that are Numerals. AD diagnosis was made via in-depth clinical protocol.
resultsIn the larger sample, ever being a journal writer significantly predicted a 53% reduction in all-cause dementia risk. In the subsample with transcribed writings, Percentage of 6+ Letter Words predicted AD and all-cause dementia risk, with all logistic regression models controlling for age, education, gender, and Latter-Day Saints affiliation. DISCUSSION: These data suggest the potential viability of adulthood language use as a predictive tool for late-life AD risk, both in the linguistic features and the practice of journal writing itself.
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Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.