ArticleBMC geriatrics2023
Associations of multilingualism and language proficiency with cognitive functioning: epidemiological evidence from the SwissDEM study in community dwelling older adults and long-term care residents.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Moderate alcohol consumption does not protect cognitive function when controlling for income and cultural factors.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- How Cognitive Ability Shapes Personality Differentiation in Real Job Candidates: Insights from a Large-Scale Study.Journal of Intelligence · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe explored whether number of languages spoken and language proficiency are associated with cognitive performance among older adults living in the community and in long-term care (LTC) in Switzerland.
methodsAmong study participants, 664 lived in the community in the Canton of Zurich (Mean age = 72.97 years; SD = 6.08), 386 lived in the community in Ticino (Mean age = 76.24 years; SD = 6.66), and 176 resided in LTC in Ticino (Mean age = 87.61 years; SD = 6.45). We recorded sociodemographic variables, number of languages spoken, language proficiency, and assessed overall cognitive performance, immediate and delayed memory, and verbal fluency with standardized tests. We used adjusted regression models.
resultsA higher number of spoken languages was positively associated with overall cognitive performance, verbal fluency and immediate and delayed memory performance in community-dwelling older adults in the Cantons of Ticino and Zurich, (all p values ≤ 0.012;), but not in in older adults living in LTC homes (all p values ≥ 0.35). Higher language proficiency was associated with better memory performance among individuals living in the community in Ticino (p value = 0.003), and to better performance in verbal fluency and memory tasks in Zurich (p values ≤ 0.002). Among LTC residents, proficiency levels were not associated with cognitive performance.
conclusionsMultilingualism and greater language proficiency were associated with better cognitive functioning in community-dwelling but not in institutionalized older adults. Multilingualism may contribute to cognitive reserve, as well as protect and delay cognitive decline in late life.
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