scholarly journals Role of sex in the association between childhood socioeconomic position and cognitive ageing in later life

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Wolfova ◽  
Zsofia Csajbok ◽  
Anna Kagstrom ◽  
Ingemar Kåreholt ◽  
Pavla Cermakova

AbstractWe aimed to explore sex differences in the association of childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) with the level of cognitive performance and the rate of cognitive decline. We studied 84,059 individuals (55% women; mean age 64 years) from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Sex differences in the association of childhood SEP (household characteristics at age 10) with the level of cognitive performance (verbal fluency, immediate recall, delayed recall) were analysed using multilevel linear regression. Structural equation modelling tested education, depressive symptoms and physical state as mediators. The relationship between childhood socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage and the rate of cognitive decline was assessed using linear mixed-effects models. Higher childhood SEP was associated with a higher level of cognitive performance to a greater extent in women (B = 0.122; 95% CI 0.092–0.151) than in men (B = 0.109; 95% CI 0.084–0.135). The strongest mediator was education. Childhood socioeconomic disadvantage was related to a higher rate of decline in delayed recall in both sexes, with a greater association in women. Strategies to prevent impaired late-life cognitive functioning, such as reducing childhood socioeconomic disadvantages and improving education, might have a greater benefit for women.

Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (17) ◽  
pp. e1602-e1610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavla Cermakova ◽  
Tomas Formanek ◽  
Anna Kagstrom ◽  
Petr Winkler

ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate whether socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood has an effect on the level of cognitive performance and the rate of cognitive decline in older adults.MethodsWe performed a prospective cohort study of individuals enrolled in a multicenter population-based study, SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe). Interviews were conducted in 6 waves at approximately 2-year intervals and included examinations of cognitive performance (memory, verbal fluency, delayed recall) and measurements of childhood SEP (participants' household characteristics at the age of 10 years). We estimated the associations of SEP with the level of cognitive performance using linear regression and the relation to the rate of cognitive decline with mixed-effects models.ResultsThis study included 20,244 participants from 16 European countries (median age at baseline 71 years, 54% women). Adverse childhood SEP was associated with a lower level of baseline cognitive performance. This association was attenuated after adjustment for clinical and social risk factors but remained statistically significant. Childhood SEP was not related to the rate of cognitive decline.ConclusionsVariation in childhood SEP helps to explain differences in cognitive performance between older people, but not the rate of decline from their previous level of cognition. Strategies to protect cognitive aging should be applied early in life.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Matej Kucera ◽  
Katrin Wolfova ◽  
Pavla Cermakova

Background: Several early-life factors have been associated with higher risk of developing dementia. It is unclear whether season of birth (SOB) can affect cognitive aging in older adults or not. Objective: We aimed to study the association of SOB with the level of cognitive performance as well as with the rate of cognitive decline. Methods: We studied 70,203 individuals who participated in the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe. Cognition was measured with tests on verbal fluency and immediate and delayed recall. We assessed the association of SOB with the level of cognitive performance using multiple linear regression and with the rate of cognitive decline using linear mixed-effects models. Results: When compared to individuals born in winter and adjusted for sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, being born in summer was associated with a higher level of delayed recall (B 0.05; 95%CI 0.01 to 0.09) and verbal fluency (B 0.15; 95%CI 0.00 to 0.29) and being born in fall with a higher level of immediate recall (B 0.04; 95%CI 0.01 to 0.08) and verbal fluency (B 0.15; 95%CI 0.01 to 0.29). Individuals born in summer had a higher yearly decline in delayed recall (B –0.005; 95%CI –0.009 to 0.000), while the scores in delayed recall in participants born in spring showed an inverse trend (B 0.005; 95%CI 0.000 to 0.010). Conclusion: Individuals born in winter seem to carry a life-long disadvantage in a lower level of cognitive performance; however, being born in winter does not seem to affect the rate of cognitive decline.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256297
Author(s):  
Jing Ma ◽  
Yuanyuan Yang ◽  
Yang Wan ◽  
Chao Shen ◽  
Peiyuan Qiu

Background The effects of childhood adversities on cognitive function in later life are well reported. However, few studies have examined the cumulative mechanism, especially in Chinese population. This study aims to explore this cumulative effects of childhood adversities on mid to late cognitive decline in China. Methods Data were drawn from the second and third wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We included 9,942 respondents aged 45 and above and retrospectively collected information on childhood adversities. Cognitive function was measured in three dimensions: orientation and calculation, immediate memory, and delayed memory. A structural equation model was employed for analysis. Results Age (β = -0.155, P<0.001) and mid to late depressive symptoms (β = -0.041, P<0.001) showed direct effects on cognitive decline. Low mid to late life socioeconomic status (SES) showed a direct effect on mid-late cognitive impairment (β = 0.603, P<0.001) and an indirect effect through depression (β = 0.007, P<0.001). Low childhood SES (β = 0.310, P<0.001), lack of friends (β = 0.208, P<0.001), parental mental health problems (β = 0.008, P<0.001), and poor relationship with parents (β = 0.001, P<0.001) had an indirect effect on cognitive impairment. Conclusions Childhood adversities had negative effects on cognitive function among middle aged and elderly population in China. The findings suggest that early counter measures on childhood adversities may lead to an effective reduction of cognitive impairment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanjie Zhang ◽  
Yongzhi Ma ◽  
Shihui Chen ◽  
Xiaolei Liu ◽  
Hye Jung Kang ◽  
...  

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review is to quantitatively estimate (or invest) the impacts of sports-related concussions (SRCs) on cognitive performance among retired athletes more than 10 years after retirement. Methods: Six databases including (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and PsycArtilces) were employed to retrieve the related studies. Studies that evaluate the association between cognitive function and the SRC of retired athletes sustaining more than 10 years were included. Results: A total of 11 studies that included 792 participants (534 retired athletes with SRC) were identified. The results indicated that the retired athletes with SRCs, compared to the non-concussion group, had significant cognitive deficits in verbal memory (SMD = −0.29, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.02, I2 = 52.8%), delayed recall (SMD = −0.30, 95% CI –0.46 to 0.07, I2 = 27.9%), and attention (SMD = −0.33, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.06, I2 = 0%). Additionally, meta-regression demonstrated that the period of time between testing and the last concussion is significantly associated with reduced verbal memory (β = −0.03681, p = 0.03), and increasing age is significantly associated with the verbal memory (β = −0.03767, p = 0.01), immediate recall (β = −0.08684, p = 0.02), and delay recall (β = −0.07432, p = 0.02). Conclusion: The retired athletes who suffered from SRCs during their playing career had declined cognitive performance in partial domains (immediate recall, visuospatial ability, and reaction time) later in life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrianna P. Kępińska ◽  
James H. MacCabe ◽  
Dorina Cadar ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Robin M. Murray ◽  
...  

AbstractThere has been a long argument over whether schizophrenia is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with progressive cognitive impairment. Given high heritability of schizophrenia, ascertaning if genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia is also associated with cognitive decline in healthy people would support the view that schizophrenia leads to an accelerated cognitive decline. Using the population representative sample of 6817 adults aged >50 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we investigated associations between the biennial rate of decline in cognitive ability and the schizophrenia polygenic score (SZ-PGS) during the 10-year follow-up period. SZ-PGS was calculated based on summary statistics from the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. Cognition was measured sequentially across four time points using verbal memory and semantic fluency tests. The average baseline verbal memory was 10.4 (SD = 3.4) and semantic fluency was 20.7 (SD = 6.3). One standard deviation (1-SD) increase in SZ-PGS was associated with lower baseline semantic fluency (β = −0.25, 95%CI = −0.40 to −0.10, p = 0.002); this association was significant in men (β = −0.36, 95%CI = −0.59 to −0.12, p = 0.003) and in those who were aged 60–69 years old (β = −0.32, 95%CI = −0.58 to −0.05, p = 0.019). Similarly, 1-SD increase in SZ-PGS was associated with lower verbal memory score at baseline in men only (β = −0.12, 95%CI = −0.23 to −0.01, p = 0.040). However, SZ-PGS was not associated with a greater rate of decline in these cognitive domains during the 10-year follow-up. Our findings highlight that while genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia conveys developmental cognitive deficit, it is not associated with an ongoing cognitive decline, at least in later life. These results do not support the neo-Kraepelinian notion of schizophrenia as a genetically determined progressively deteriorating brain disease.


Author(s):  
Marina Z. Nakhla ◽  
Kelsey A. Holiday ◽  
J. Vincent Filoteo ◽  
Zvinka Z. Zlatar ◽  
Vanessa L. Malcarne ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: The utility of informant-based measures of cognitive decline to accurately describe objective cognitive performance in Parkinson’s disease (PD) without dementia is uncertain. Due to the clinical relevance of this information, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between informant-based reports of patient cognitive decline via the Informant Questionnaire of Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) and objective cognition in non-demented PD controlling for cognitive status (i.e., mild cognitive impairment; PD-MCI and normal cognition; PD-NC). Method: One-hundred and thirty-nine non-demented PD participants (PD-MCI n = 38; PD-NC n = 101) were administered measures of language, executive function, attention, learning, delayed recall, visuospatial function, mood, and motor function. Each participant identified an informant to complete the IQCODE and a mood questionnaire. Results: Greater levels of informant-based responses of patient cognitive decline on the IQCODE were significantly associated with worse objective performance on measures of global cognition, attention, learning, delayed recall, and executive function in the overall sample, above and beyond covariates and cognitive status. However, the IQCODE was not significantly associated with language or visuospatial function. Conclusions: Results indicate that informant responses, as measured by the IQCODE, may provide adequate information on a wide range of cognitive abilities in non-demented PD, including those with MCI and normal cognition. Findings have important clinical implications for the utility of the IQCODE in the identification of PD patients in need of further evaluation, monitoring, and treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 663-663
Author(s):  
Celine De Looze ◽  
Wilby Williamson ◽  
Naiara Demnitz ◽  
Rose Anne Kenny

Abstract Cardiovascular risk factors are increasingly recognized as modifiable risks for cognitive decline and dementia in later life. The Life’s Simple 7, an ideal CV health scoring system, has been recently put forward as a tool for the promotion of brain health. This study aims to evaluate the LS7 as risk prediction tool for cognitive decline trajectories (MMSE, immediate/delayed recall and verbal fluency) in 2,739 adults aged ≥50 years from TILDA. We investigate if indices of muscular strength (grip strength), mobility (Time Up and Go, walking speed) and physiological stress (e.g. orthostatic blood pressure and heart rate recovery) as add-ons to the LS7 improves prediction of cognitive trajectories; and, in a subcohort, we assess CV health score in association with multimodal brain measures. Identifying the factors that influence the onset and trajectory of cognitive decline in a multifactorial perspective is critical toward lowering dementia risks and developing adequate intervention and treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janelle T. Foret ◽  
Maria Dekhtyar ◽  
James H. Cole ◽  
Drew D. Gourley ◽  
Marie Caillaud ◽  
...  

Hypothesis-driven studies have demonstrated that sex moderates many of the relationships between brain health and cardiometabolic disease, which impacts risk for later-life cognitive decline. In the present study, we sought to further our understanding of the associations between multiple markers of brain integrity and cardiovascular risk in a midlife sample of 266 individuals by using network analysis, a technique specifically designed to examine complex associations among multiple systems at once. Separate network models were constructed for male and female participants to investigate sex differences in the biomarkers of interest, selected based on evidence linking them with risk for late-life cognitive decline: all components of metabolic syndrome (obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia); neuroimaging-derived brain-predicted age minus chronological age; ratio of white matter hyperintensities to whole brain volume; seed-based resting state functional connectivity in the Default Mode Network, and ratios of N-acetyl aspartate, glutamate and myo-inositol to creatine, measured through proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Males had a sparse network (87.2% edges = 0) relative to females (69.2% edges = 0), indicating fewer relationships between measures of cardiometabolic risk and brain integrity. The edges in the female network provide meaningful information about potential mechanisms between brain integrity and cardiometabolic health. Additionally, Apolipoprotein ϵ4 (ApoE ϵ4) status and waist circumference emerged as central nodes in the female model. Our study demonstrates that network analysis is a promising technique for examining relationships between risk factors for cognitive decline in a midlife population and that investigating sex differences may help optimize risk prediction and tailor individualized treatments in the future.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1133 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEFANO MAZZUCO ◽  
SILVIA MEGGIOLARO ◽  
FAUSTA ONGARO ◽  
VERONICA TOFFOLUTTI

ABSTRACTFamily resources may play an important role in the wellbeing of older people. In this paper, we examine the association between living arrangement and cognitive decline among people over 65 living in different European countries. The underlined hypothesis is that living with others (i.e. spouse or/and children) vis-à-vis living alone may have a positive role in maintaining cognitive functioning, but also that such beneficial influence varies according to the circumstances. To this end, we used data from the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which provides indicators of several cognitive functions: orientation, immediate recall, delayed recall, verbal fluency and numeracy. Net of both the potential biases due to the selective attrition and the re-test effects, the evidence shows that the association between living arrangement and cognitive decline depends on the geographical area and on the starting level of cognitive function.


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