Menopause is a well-known risk factor for accelerating cognitive aging in women. This study aimed to assess differences in cognitive function and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) according to menopausal status to determine whether the menopause significantly affects the relationship between cognitive function and HRQOL.

This was a cross-sectional comparative study with a convenience sample of 178 Korean women including 89 naturally menopausal women (65 ± 10 years) and 89 non-menopausal women (45 ± 8 years) who met the eligibility criteria and completed neuropsychological tests and self-report questionnaires about their HRQOL, cognitive function, depression, and sleep quality. Multiple regression analyses were performed within and between groups according to menopausal status.

Menopausal women had significantly worse scores on neuropsychological performance and HRQOL than non-menopausal women. A better neuropsychological performance (β = 0.34) was solely associated with a better HRQOL in menopausal women, whilst socioeconomic variables were associated with HRQOL in non-menopausal women.

Menopause is an important risk factor for HRQOL, and the association between cognition and HRQOL may differ according to menopausal status. When developing programs for target groups to improve daily functioning and HRQOL, healthcare professionals need to pay more attention to this relationship.

Self-rated health is a comprehensive measure of health. As gender difference in self-rated health is found, identifying gender-specific factors related to self-rated health is important. Poor executive functioning negatively affects an individual’s independence and healthy lifestyle, but it is unknown relationships between executive function and self-rated health and gender differences in these relationships. Therefore, gender differences were examined in the relationship between executive function and self-rated health in the community.

Individuals completed questionnaires about their health status and subjective decline in executive function. Neuropsychological tests were also performed to assess objective executive functioning. Two separate multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted by gender.

Better objective executive function was related to greater self-rated health scores (better self-rated health) in men alone (βs = 0.341), while better subjective executive function was significantly associated with greater self-rated health scores in both men and women (βs = 0.385 and 0.443, respectively).

Gender differences are important when reporting perceived health status, in particular the different effects of subjective and objective executive function on self-rated health across genders. Clinicians need to be aware of the potential value of subjective executive function complaints when evaluating health status.

We aimed to examine the effects of various leisure activities on cognitive impairment in young-old (aged 65–74 years) and old-old (aged ≥ 75 years) adults.

In total, 10,279 elderly Korean individuals from the 2014 Korean National Survey on Older Adults’ cohort were enrolled in our study. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the standardized score of the Mini-Mental State Examination for Dementia Screening, whereas leisure activities were recorded via self-reporting of the extent and type of leisure activity the subjects involved in over the past year. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the effect of leisure activities on cognitive impairment, while controlling for potential covariates.

The subjects were more likely to participate in cognitive activities than in non-exercise physical activities. After controlling for selected covariates, involvement in cognitive activities was found to be a significant predictor of cognitive impairment in both the groups, whereas involvement in non-exercise physical activities was not a predictor of cognitive impairment in individuals aged ≥ 75 years. Moreover, depressive symptoms, rural residence, and hearing difficulties were common predictors of cognitive impairment among elderly-Korean-individuals.

Leisure activity involvement may help delay cognitive impairment, which is often concomitant with aging. Hence, an early intervention service may significantly benefit both young-old and old-old individuals.