The impact of volunteering on cognition and cognitive decline in older diverse cohorts: KHANDLE and STAR.

Volunteering in late life was associated with better executive function and verbal episodic memory at baseline.

• Late-life (55+ years) volunteering associated with better executive function (β = 0.173, 95% CI: 0.114–0.232)
• Volunteering associated with better verbal episodic memory (β = 0.132, 95% CI: 0.071–0.192)
• Models adjusted for age, gender/sex, education, race/ethnicity, instrumental activities of daily living, and self-rated health
• 47% of participants reported volunteering at baseline

Volunteering a few times per week was associated with the highest magnitude of executive function benefit, while volunteering once per week was associated with the highest verbal episodic memory benefit.

• Volunteering a few times per week associated with executive function: β = 0.216, 95% CI: 0.128–0.305 versus no volunteering
• Volunteering once per week associated with verbal episodic memory: β = 0.189, 95% CI: 0.082–0.297 versus no volunteering
• The magnitude of cognitive benefit did not increase with more frequent volunteering beyond these thresholds

Volunteering was not associated with rates of cognitive decline over the follow-up period.

• Those who volunteered had similar domain-specific cognitive decline compared to those who did not
• Follow-up ranged from 2 to 6 years across 4 waves
• Cognitive outcomes assessed were executive function and verbal episodic memory using the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scale

The study sample was racially and ethnically diverse, with nearly half of participants identifying as Black.

• N = 2789 participants with unimpaired cognition at baseline
• Mean age 73.8 ± 7.8 years; 62% women
• Racial/ethnic composition: 45% Black, 21% White, 18% Asian, 17% Hispanic/Latin(x)
• Data drawn from Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences Study (KHANDLE) and Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR)

Volunteering and frequency of volunteering in the past year were self-reported at baseline.

• Volunteering was assessed as any volunteering in the past 12 months prior to baseline
• Frequency categories included once per week and a few times per week, among others
• Cognition was assessed with the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scale across 4 waves