Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38857577›Full record

ArticleNeuroepidemiology2025

Mid-Life Household Food Insecurity and Subsequent Memory Function and Rate of Decline in Rural South Africa, 2004-2022.

Xuexin Yu, Audra Gill, Rishika Chakraborty, Chodziwadziwa W Kabudula, Ryan G Wagner, Darina T Bassil, Meagan T Farrell, Stephen M Tollman, Kathleen Kahn, Molly S Rosenberg and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuroepidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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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

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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

11 authors.

Xuexin YuCenter for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, xuexiny@umich.edu.
Audra GillCenter for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Rishika ChakrabortyDepartment of Environmental and Occupational Health, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Chodziwadziwa W KabudulaMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ryan G WagnerMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Darina T BassilHarvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Meagan T FarrellHarvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Stephen M TollmanMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kathleen KahnMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Molly S RosenbergMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Lindsay C KobayashiCenter for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

Funding

Socioeconomic, Cardiovascular, and Psychosocial Sources of Cross-National Variation in Cognitive Health Among Older AdultsR01AG070953 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Alden L. Gross, Lindsay C Kobayashi · 2021 to 2026
$4.6M
Cumulative socioeconomic exposures, cash transfer interventions, and later-life cognitive decline and dementia risk in a low-income region of South AfricaR01AG069128 · NIA · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · PI Lindsay C Kobayashi, Molly Sears Rosenberg · 2020 to 2026
$4.1M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG069128NIA NIH HHS R01 AG070953
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionWe aimed to investigate mid-life food insecurity over time in relation to subsequent memory function and rate of decline in Agincourt, rural South Africa.

methodsData from the longitudinal Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (Agincourt HDSS) were linked to the population-representative Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI). Food insecurity (yes vs. no) and food insecurity intensity (never/rarely/sometimes vs. often/very often) in the past month were assessed every 3 years from 2004 to 2013 in Agincourt HDSS. Cumulative exposure to each food insecurity measure was operationalized as 0, 1, and ≥2 time points. Episodic memory was assessed from 2014/15 to 2021/22 in HAALSI. Mixed-effects linear regression models were fitted to investigate the associations of each food insecurity measure with memory function and rate of decline over time.

resultsA total of 3,186 participants (mean age [SD] in 2004: 53 [12.87]; range: 30-96) were included and 1,173 (36%) participants experienced food insecurity in 2004, while this figure decreased to 490 (15%) in 2007, 489 (15%) in 2010, and 150 (5%) in 2013. Experiencing food insecurity at one time point (vs. never) from 2004 to 2013 was associated with lower baseline memory function (β = -0.095; 95% CI: -0.159 to -0.032) in 2014/15 but not rate of memory decline. Higher intensity of food insecurity at ≥2 time points (vs. never) was associated with lower baseline memory function (β = -0.154, 95% CI: -0.338 to 0.028), although the estimate was imprecise. Other frequencies of food insecurity and food insecurity intensity were not associated with memory function or decline in the fully adjusted models.

conclusionIn this setting, mid-life food insecurity may be a risk factor for lower later-life memory function, but not decline.

introductionWe aimed to investigate mid-life food insecurity over time in relation to subsequent memory function and rate of decline in Agincourt, rural South Africa.

methodsData from the longitudinal Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (Agincourt HDSS) were linked to the population-representative Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI). Food insecurity (yes vs. no) and food insecurity intensity (never/rarely/sometimes vs. often/very often) in the past month were assessed every 3 years from 2004 to 2013 in Agincourt HDSS. Cumulative exposure to each food insecurity measure was operationalized as 0, 1, and ≥2 time points. Episodic memory was assessed from 2014/15 to 2021/22 in HAALSI. Mixed-effects linear regression models were fitted to investigate the associations of each food insecurity measure with memory function and rate of decline over time.

resultsA total of 3,186 participants (mean age [SD] in 2004: 53 [12.87]; range: 30-96) were included and 1,173 (36%) participants experienced food insecurity in 2004, while this figure decreased to 490 (15%) in 2007, 489 (15%) in 2010, and 150 (5%) in 2013. Experiencing food insecurity at one time point (vs. never) from 2004 to 2013 was associated with lower baseline memory function (β = -0.095; 95% CI: -0.159 to -0.032) in 2014/15 but not rate of memory decline. Higher intensity of food insecurity at ≥2 time points (vs. never) was associated with lower baseline memory function (β = -0.154, 95% CI: -0.338 to 0.028), although the estimate was imprecise. Other frequencies of food insecurity and food insecurity intensity were not associated with memory function or decline in the fully adjusted models.

conclusionIn this setting, mid-life food insecurity may be a risk factor for lower later-life memory function, but not decline.

Indexed as

Food InsecurityMemory DisordersMemory, EpisodicRural PopulationAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedSouth AfricaFood insecurityMemory declineMemory functionSouth Africa

Identifiers

PMID38857577
PMCPMC11628639

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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 OpenQuestion graph.