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Among older adults who use the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rates of memory decline appear to be slower than among those who don’t use the program, new research shows.

Researchers assessed the memory function of a total of approximately 3500 persons who either used SNAP or did not use SNAP over a period of 20 years. They found that those who didn’t use the food benefits program experienced 2 more years of cognitive aging compared to program users.

Of the 3555 individuals included in the study, all were eligible to use the benefits, but only 559 did, leaving 2996 participants who did not take advantage of the program.

Dr Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri

Low program participation levels translate into a missed opportunity to prevent dementia, said study investigator Adina Zeki Al Hazzouri, PhD, requirements for pharmacy tech il license assistant professor of epidemiology at the Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York.

She told Medscape Medical News that prior research has shown that stigma may prevent older Americans from using SNAP. “Educational programs are needed to reduce the stigma that the public holds towards SNAP use,” she said.

Policy change could increase usage among older individuals, Zeki Al Hazzouri noted. Such changes could include simplifying enrollment and reporting procedures, shortening recertification periods, and increasing benefit levels.

The study was published online November 9 in Neurology.

Memory Preservation

Zeki Al Hazzouri and her team assessed respondents from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a representative sample of Americans aged 50 and older.

All respondents who were eligible to participate in SNAP in 1996 were followed every 2 years until 2016.

At each assessment, HRS respondents completed memory tests, including immediate and delayed word recall. For those who were too impaired to complete the interview, proxy informants ― typically, their spouses or family members ― assessed the memory and cognition of their family members using validated instruments, such as the 16-item Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline.

Investigators used a validated memory function composite score, which is benchmarked against the memory assessments and evaluations of the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study (ADAMS) cohort.

The team found that compared to nonusers, SNAP users were more likely to be women, Black, and born in the southern US. They were also less likely to be married and had more chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, heart problems, psychiatric problems, and arthritis.

One important study limitation was that SNAP use was only measured once during the study, the investigators note. Ideally, Zeki Al Hazzouri said, future research would examine cumulative SNAP use history and explore the pathways that might account for the association between SNAP use and memory decline.

While findings suggest that there were no significant differences in baseline memory function between SNAP users and nonusers, users experienced approximately 2 fewer years of cognitive aging over a 10-year period than those who didn’t use the program.

Zeki Al Hazzouri speculated that SNAP benefits may slow cognitive aging by contributing to overall brain health and that, in comparison with nonusers, SNAP users absorb more nutrients, which promote neuronal integrity.

The investigators also theorized that SNAP benefits may reduce stress from financial hardship, which has been linked to premature cognitive aging in other research.

“SNAP may also increase the purchasing power and investment in other health preserving behaviors, but also resulting in better access to care, which may in turn result in better disease management and management of risk factors for cognitive function,” the investigators write.

An Underutilized Program

In an accompanying editorial, Steven Albert, PhD, Philip B. Hallen Endowed Chair in Community Health and Social Justice at the University of Pittsburgh, noted that in 2020, among households with people aged 50 and older in the US, over 9 million Americans experienced food insecurity.

Furthermore, he pointed out, research from 2018 showed that 71% of people aged 60 and older who met income eligibility for SNAP did not participate in the program. “SNAP is an underutilized food security program involving substantial income supplements for older people with low incomes.

“Against the backdrop of so many failures of pharmacotherapy for dementia and the so far inexorable increase in the prevalence of dementia due to population aging, are we missing an opportunity to support cognitive health by failing to enroll the 14 million Americans who are over age 60 and eligible for SNAP but who do not participate?” Albert asked. He suggested that it would be helpful to determine this through a randomized promotion trial.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging. The authors reported no relevant financial relationships.

Neurology. Published online November 9, 2022. Abstract, Editorial

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