Abstract: Objective To analyze the cognitive function of the elderly in the community,explore the its relationship with the length of TV watching. Methods This study used the survey data of key disease prevention and intervention projects in the elderly from January 2019 to December 2020,in which the mini mental state examination（MMSE） was used for cognitive function evaluation. The SAS 9.4 statistical software was used for descriptive analysis, χ² test and Kruskal-Walis were used for correlation analysis,and ordered logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between different TV viewing hours and cognitive function of the elderly in the community. Results Totally 10 347 subjects were included,there were 1 972 people with cognitive abnormalities,and the detection rate of cognitive abnormality was 19.06%（95%CI：18.30-19.82）. The overall score of cognitive function was （24.53±5.11）points,among which the scores of orientationability,immediate memory,attention and calculationability,recall ability,language and space-time ability were （8.85±1.84）,（2.73±0.72）,（3.12±1.87）,（2.07±1.46）,（7.77±1.46）points,respectively. After adjusting for demographic characteristics and lifestyle factors,the logistic regression analysis showed that,compared with the subjects who watched TV for 0-2 h/d,the scores of orientation ability（OR=0.770,95%CI：0.691-0.856）,attention and calculationability（OR=0.820,95%CI：0.740-0.908）,memory ability（OR=0.865,95%CI：0.779-0.962）,language and visual spatial ability（OR=0.839,95%CI：0.757-0.929） and MMSE total score（OR=0.766,95%CI：0.695-0.845） in the elderly who did not watch TV were lower,the scores of orientation ability（OR=1.126,95%CI：1.019-1.245）,immediate memory（OR=1.433,95%CI：1.228-1.673）,attention and calculation ability（OR=1.122,95%CI：1.024-1.229）, language and visual spatial ability（OR=1.100,95%CI：1.003-1.206）and MMSE total score（OR=1.129,95%CI：1.035-1.232）in the elderly who watched TV >2-4 h/d were higher,and the scores of orientation ability（OR=1.231,95%CI：1.021-1.485）,attention and calculation ability（OR=1.213,95%CI：1.025-1.436）,language and visual spatial ability（OR=1.198,95%CI：1.011-1.419） and MMSE total score（OR=1.256,95%CI：1.071-1.472） in the elderly who watched TV >4-6 h/d were higher. Conclusions Not watching TV and watching TV for more than 6h/d may be related to cognitive abnormalities of the elderly in the community. It is suggested that the daily duration of watching TV should be controlled within 6 hours.

Key words: The elderly, Watching TV, Multidimensional cognitive function, Mini mental state examination