scholarly journals The Role of Occupation in Explaining Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: Education and Occupational Complexity in a U.S. National Sample of Black and White Men and Women

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 1189-1199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaori Fujishiro ◽  
Leslie A MacDonald ◽  
Michael Crowe ◽  
Leslie A McClure ◽  
Virginia J Howard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
White Men ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Occupational Complexity

Abstract Objective Positive associations between education and late-life cognition have been widely reported. This study examines whether occupational complexity mediates the relationship between education and late-life cognition, and whether the magnitude of mediation differs by race, gender, or education level. Methods Data were from a population-based cohort of non-Hispanic Blacks and Whites aged ≥45 years (n = 7,357). Education was categorized as less than high school, high school, some college, and college or higher. Using linear regression, we estimated the direct effect of each successive increase in education on cognitive functioning and indirect effects via substantive complexity of work. Results Occupational complexity significantly mediated 11%–22% of the cognitive gain associated with higher levels of education. The pattern of mediation varied between White men and all other race–gender groups: among White men, the higher the education, the greater the mediation effect by occupational complexity. Among Black men and women of both races, the higher the education, the smaller the mediation effect. Discussion Higher levels of education may provide opportunity for intellectually engaging environments throughout adulthood in the form of complex work, which may protect late-life cognition. However, this protective effect of occupational complexity may not occur equally across race–gender subgroups.

Abstract 281: Contemporary Epidemiology of Atrial Fibrillation Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 2004-2013

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Parker ◽  
Rohan Khera ◽  
Ambarish Pandey ◽  
Daniel Cheeran ◽  
Colby Ayers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Black Men ◽  
White Men ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Outpatient Setting ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries ◽  
Men And Women

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common dysrhythmia in clinical practice, and is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality. Prior reports have projected a large increase in AF burden over time. A contemporary assessment of epidemiology is needed to assess if an emphasis of prevention strategies over the last decade has been effective in alleviating this risk. Methods: We used a 5% national sample of all Medicare beneficiaries in the US from 2002 through 2013 to construct a longitudinal cohort of 2.3 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries administratively followed for ≥2 years using claims data. Trends in incident and prevalent AF were assessed for 2004 through 2013. Using ICD-9 codes, encounters with AF were identified from inpatient, outpatient, and physician claims. AF during the first 2 years of entry into the cohort was defined as pre-existing AF. Incident AF was defined as having either 1 inpatient claim with a diagnosis of AF or 2 outpatient or physician claims with AF. Calendar-year prevalence comprised pre-existing and incident AF for the respective years as well as those with incident AF in preceding years. Age-adjusted time trends were assessed using Poisson regression. Results: Between 2002 and 2013, 219,570 patients had incident AF. At incidence, mean age was 79 years, 55% were women, and 92% and 5% were white and black, respectively. Age-adjusted AF incidence decreased by 0.4/1000 per year between 2004 (20/1000) and 2013 (17/1000). While incidence declined for white men and women (P<.05), it has remained unchanged for black men and women (Figure). Proportion of incident events in the outpatient setting increased from 26% to 40%. One-year mortality was 9%, and remained unchanged throughout the study period. Over this period, the overall prevalence of AF decreased by 0.9/1000 per year (p<.05), however, there was a relative increase in AF prevalence among black men. Conclusions: Between years 2004 and 2013, the overall incidence and prevalence of AF among a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries stabilized. There were, however, differences across racial groups, with a slight decline in incidence among white men and women, which was not observed in black men and women.

Intimacy and Ageing

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Bildtgård ◽  
Peter Öberg
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Western World ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Ways Of Being ◽  
Older Men And Women

To repartner in later life is increasingly common in large parts of the Western world. This book addresses the gap in knowledge about late life repartnering and provides a comprehensive map of the changing landscape of late life intimacy. The book examines the changing structural conditions of intimacy and ageing in late modernity. How do longer lives, changing norms and new technologies affect older people’s relationship careers, their attitudes to repartnering and the formation of new relationships? Which forms do these new unions take? What does a new intimate relationship offer older men and women and what are the consequences for social integration? What is the role and meaning of sex? By introducing a gains-perspective the book challenges stereotypes of old age as a period of loss and decline. It also challenges the image of older people as conservative, and instead present them as an avant-garde that often experiment with new ways of being together.

scholarly journals Exploring Effects of School Sport Experiences on Sport Participation in Later Life

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Curtis ◽  
William McTeer ◽  
Philip White
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Sport Activity ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Later Life ◽  
National Sample ◽  
School Involvement ◽  
School Sport ◽  
High School Sport

This paper presents findings on the relationship between high school sport participation and involvement in sport as adults. The data are provided by a survey of a large representative national sample of adult Canadians. For different age subgroups among women and men, we tested the school sport experiences hypothesis that sport involvement during the high school years contributes to later adult involvement in sport. The measurement of sport involvement in the high school years is concerned with intramural and inter-school activities. Adult sport activity has three measures: sport involvement per se, involvement in an organized setting, and competitive involvement. The results are consistent with the school experiences hypothesis. High school sport involvement, for inter-school sport activities, is a comparatively strong predictor of adult sport involvement. The effects of high school involvement persist after controlling for correlated social background factors. Moreover, the effects of school sport experiences hold across age and gender subgroups. Although diminished with temporal distance from the high school years, the effects of high school involvement nonetheless extend even to respondents aged 40-59 (i.e., those approximately 22 to 42 years beyond their school years) among both genders. Interpretations of the results are discussed.

scholarly journals Working in old age in Mexico: implications for cognitive functioning

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Francisca S. Rodriguez ◽  
Joseph Saenz
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Visual Scanning ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Delayed Recall ◽  
Cognitive Benefits

Abstract Previous studies indicate that occupation might affect cognitive functioning in late life. As people in low- and middle-income countries often have to work until late life, we sought to investigate if there are cognitive benefits to working later into life and whether cognitive function deteriorates after exiting the labour force. We analysed longitudinal data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a nationally representative sample of Mexican adults age 50+ (N = 7,375), that assessed cognitive functioning by verbal learning, delayed recall and visual scanning. Analyses were carried out using mixed-effects modelling corrected for the influence of gender, instrumental activities of daily living, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, depression, income and marital status. Results suggest that working actively, compared to exiting the workforce, was associated with cognitive performance only in context with occupation. Domestic workers had a faster decline in verbal learning (b = −0.02, p = 0.020) and delayed recall (b = −0.02, p = 0.036) if they continued working actively and people working in administration (b = 0.03, p = 0.007), sales (b = 0.02, p = 0.044) and educators (b = 0.03, p = 0.049) had a slower decline in visual scanning if they continued working in old age. Our findings indicate that continued participation in the labour force in old age does not necessarily come with cognitive benefits. Whether or not working actively in later life protects or even harms cognitive functioning is likely to depend on the type of job.

The gendered experience of social resources in the transition to late-life widowhood

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Linda Isherwood
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Friendship Networks ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Framework Approach ◽  
Qualitative Exploration ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Social resources – close relationships, support exchange and social engagement – can play an important role in successful adjustment to widowhood in later life. However, it is not clear whether access to, and the utilisation of, social resources are different for men and women during late-life widowhood. This study provides a qualitative exploration of the experience of social resources in the lives of older widowed men and women across the transition to widowhood (from pre-widowhood to later widowhood). Using a life course theory lens, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 men and women who had been widowed in later life. The interview data were analysed using the framework approach. Four phases in the transition to widowhood were identified: ‘Illness and caring’, ‘Relocation and separation’, ‘Early bereavement’ and ‘Life goes on’. Widowhood brings great change to the accessibility and utilisation of social resources, and each of these transitional phases was associated with differential usage of these resources. Gender differences were observed in the availability of social resources across the transition to widowhood, with widowed men typically found to have smaller friendship networks, receive less support and be at increased risk of social isolation. Particular attention is required to ensure that all older widowed men and women have access to sufficient social support and contact following bereavement.

scholarly journals Early Social Origins of Biological Risks for Men and Women in Later Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-522
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Morton ◽  
Kenneth F. Ferraro
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Later Life ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Parental Behaviors ◽  
Adult Health ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Multiple Points ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Childhood Disadvantage

We investigate whether childhood exposures influence adult chronic inflammation and mortality risk via adult health characteristics and socioeconomic status (SES) and whether gender moderates these relationships. Analyzing a longitudinal national sample of 9,310 men and women over age 50, we found that childhood SES, parental behaviors, and adolescent behaviors were associated with adult chronic inflammation via health characteristics and SES in adulthood. The process of disadvantage initiated by low childhood SES (i.e., adult health risk factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and chronic inflammation) subsequently raised mortality risk. In addition, gender moderated the mediating influence of childhood SES via unhealthy behaviors and parental behaviors via adult SES. Demonstrating how social forces shape biological health through multiple mechanisms informs health policies by identifying multiple points of intervention in an effort to reduce the lasting consequences of childhood disadvantage.

scholarly journals Spousal Education and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. e141-e150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minle Xu
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Growth Curve Models ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Spousal Education

Abstract Objectives Numerous studies have documented the relationship between education and cognitive functioning at the individual level. Yet few studies have examined whether a spouse’s education spills over to influence the other spouse’s cognitive functioning. This study, therefore, investigates the association between spousal education and cognitive functioning, the pathways that may account for this association, and gender differences in this association. Method Growth curve models were analyzed by using longitudinal couple data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 5,846 individuals). Results More years of spousal education are associated with higher level of cognitive functioning at age 65 (γ000 = 0.0532, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.0163−0.0901) and slower decline in cognitive functioning in later adulthood (γ100 = 0.0054, 95% CI = 0.0026−0.0082). The positive association between spousal education and the level of cognitive functioning at age 65 is fully explained by economic resources. The association of spousal education with the rate of change in cognitive functioning decreases but remains significant after controlling for economic resources and health behaviors (γ100 = 0.0043, 95% CI = 0.0014−0.0072). The association between spousal education and cognitive functioning is similar for men and women. Discussion Findings suggest that more years of spousal education may slow decline in cognitive functioning for men and women in later life.

scholarly journals Lifelong Engagement: The Role of Cognitive Reserve and Physical Health in Very Late Life

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 779-780
Author(s):  
Peter Martin ◽  
Bradley Willcox ◽  
D Craig Willcox
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Cognitive Reserve ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Multiple Group ◽  
Occupational Complexity

Abstract At the end of a very long life, older adults often experience a significant decline in cognitive function. However, there are older adults who have maintained high levels of cognition and physical health. The purpose of this symposium is to illuminate interdisciplinary findings of cognitive engagement with late-life benefits of cognitive functioning and physical health. Components of cognitive reserve include sociodemographic variables (e.g., education, occupational complexity and responsibility), psychosocial variables (e.g., engaged life style and activity) and physical and genetic reserve (e.g., strength, APOE4). Based on three major research studies (the Japanese SONIC study; the Honolulu Asia Aging Study, HAAS; and the Georgia Centenarian Study, GCS), we highlight important aspects of building cognitive reserve and the implications for cognitive and physical health. The first presentation evaluates the importance of work complexity as a predictor of cognitive and physical health among participants of the SONIC study. Multiple group analyses yielded strong associations of occupational complexity with cognitive functioning for men. The second presentation reports logistic regression findings from the HAAS including education, strength and genetic markers, as well as mental health and their relatedness to cognitive abilities and physical health. The final presentation evaluates a structural equation model from the GCS, highlighting the interrelationship of cognitive reserve components (i.e., education, occupational responsibility, engaged lifestyle, social support, and activity) with cognitive and physical health in very late life. We will summarize and integrate the findings for their theoretical and practical implications and provide future directions.

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