scholarly journals The Education of Family Members and Older Adult Cognitive Health: Differences Across Racial Groups

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 522-522
Author(s):  
Sindhu Vasireddy ◽  
Jenjira Yahirun ◽  
Mark Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Health Differences ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Education is a strong predictor of cognitive health among older adults, and recent research indicates that apart from one’s own education, the educational resources of family members also play a crucial role in shaping cognitive health over the life course. We add to this literature by investigating whether the advantages of highly educated family members matter for both Blacks and Whites in the U.S. Specifically, we ask whether the resources of family members-parents and offspring-partially explain the racial gap in both the prevalence and incidence of cognitive health across both groups. For this, we employ logistic regression models to examine the prevalence of cognitive impairment at baseline, and discrete-time event history models to assess the incidence of cognitive impairment, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for the years ranging from 2000 to 2012. Preliminary results indicate that at the baseline, respondent’s own education is predictive of cognitive impairment among Whites, but not Blacks. Once respondent-level health conditions and behaviors are taken into consideration, parental or offspring education is not associated with the prevalence of cognitive impairment. For respondents who are not impaired at the baseline, our results from the incidence models align with the “adjacent generations” literature suggesting that both parental and offspring education has a salient positive effect on later-life cognitive health. However, we find notable differences across groups to suggest that the education of parents and offspring may play a larger role in mitigating cognitive decline among African Americans, compared to Whites.

scholarly journals The Education of Multiple Family Members and the Life-Course Pathways to Cognitive Impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. e113-e128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenjira J Yahirun ◽  
Sindhu Vasireddy ◽  
Mark D Hayward
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cognitively Impaired ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Educational Attainments

Abstract Objectives This article asks how the educational attainments of multiple family members, including parents and offspring, are associated with the cognitive health of older adults in the United States. Methods We use panel data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (2000–2012) to examine how the education of an individual, their parent(s), and their offspring are associated with the prevalence of moderate/severe cognitive impairment and the onset of cognitive impairment among older adults using logistic regression and discrete-time event history analysis, respectively. Results We found that when combined, only the education of the individual is inversely associated with cognitive impairment at baseline. However, both the educational attainments of an individual and their offspring are negatively associated with the risk of becoming cognitively impaired, among individuals who were not already cognitively impaired. Conversely, parental education was not predictive of being cognitively impaired or the onset of impairment. Furthermore, we found that respondent gender did not moderate the relationship between a family member’s education and respondent cognitive health. Discussion This study adds to current research by asking how resources from earlier and subsequent generations matter for older adults’ cognitive health. Although we found little evidence that parental education matters at this life stage, results suggest that offspring education has a salient positive effect on later-life cognitive health. This finding underscores an overlooked source of health disparities—offspring resources—and highlights how a family perspective remains a powerful tool for understanding health inequalities in later life.

Abstract WP482: Early Life Exposure to the Stroke Belt and Later Life Incident Cognitive Impairment: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia J Howard ◽  
George Howard ◽  
Jennifer J Manly ◽  
M M Glymour ◽  
Laura B Zahodne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Early Life Exposure ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Regards Study ◽  
Adjusted Logistic Regression ◽  
Stroke Belt

Introduction: Incidence of cognitive impairment is higher for residents of the Stroke Belt (SB) compared to those living outside it, but the importance of timing of SB residence is unclear. Methods: Participants were aged 45+ yrs, and enrolled in 2003-2007 in REGARDS. Cognition was assessed annually, by telephone, using the Six-Item Screener (SIS) in 11,488 black or white stroke-free participants currently living in the SB, and 8,949 currently living outside of the SB. Incident cognitive impairment was defined as SIS score of < 4 at last assessment among participants with initial SIS >4. Exposures were defined as SB residence all years, some years, or no years of childhood (ages 0-18) and early adulthood (ages 19-30). Demographic adjusted logistic regression models were stratified by SB residence at enrollment, and were used to estimate the demographic-adjusted odds of incident cognitive impairment. Results: Among those currently residing in the SB, childhood residence outside the SB for some (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.68 - 0.99) or all (OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.65 - 0.90) of the time predicted lower odds of incident cognitive impairment. Similarly, early adulthood residence outside the SB for some (OR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.74 - 0.98) or all (OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.58 - 0.84) of the time predicted lower incident cognitive impairment. Conversely, for those currently living outside the SB, the risk of incident cognitive impairment was higher for those who had spent their entire early adulthood in the SB (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.01 - 2.57), with non-significant increased risk for childhood exposure or some early adulthood exposure to the SB (table). Conclusions: These findings suggest that early residence in the SB during childhood or early adulthood increases the risk of cognitive impairment regardless of place of residence in later adulthood. Further research is needed to determine the characteristics of early SB life that are linked to later adult cognitive impairment.

scholarly journals How Gender Shapes the Effects of Immediate Family Members’ Deaths on Adults’ Psychological Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 93-93
Author(s):  
J Jill Suitor ◽  
Megan Gilligan ◽  
Catherine Stepniak ◽  
Yifei Hou ◽  
Robert Frase
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Time Since Death ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
The Face ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The deaths of family members constitute one of the most serious negative life events experienced in adulthood. The impact of these losses on psychological well-being may differ considerably by the structural relationship between the deceased and the survivors, and by the genders of both family members; however, few studies have been able to explore these variations by generation, gender, and time since death. In this paper, we use mixed-methods data to explore how depressive symptoms are affected differentially in adulthood by the deaths of mothers, fathers, and siblings, as well as by the gender of survivors. We address these questions using data collected from approximately 600 adult children nested within 250 later-life families, in which approximately 55% experienced the death of at least one parent and 15% experienced the death of a sibling in the previous decade. Preliminary multilevel regression analyses showed that deaths of siblings predicted sisters’ but not brothers’ depressive symptoms. In the case of parents, only mothers’ deaths were found to predict daughters’ depressive symptoms, whereas neither parents’ deaths predicted sons’ well-being. Further, these patterns differed little by time since death. Qualitative data revealed that women were more likely to report that both their mothers’ and siblings’ deaths had led to higher conflict within the sibling network, which previous research has shown predicts psychological well-being. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the salient role of gender in shaping well-being in the face of events of deaths of parents and siblings in adulthood.

International migration and health inequalities in later life

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 935-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONATELLA LANARI ◽  
ODOARDO BUSSINI
Keyword(s):  
Later Life ◽  
Poor Health ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Linear Pattern ◽  
Nativity Status ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Health Differences ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
Socio Economic Variables ◽  
Using Data

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to ascertain the existence of differences in self-perceived health and depression between immigrants and native-born populations aged 50 years and older living in Western and Northern European countries. We examine the effect of country of origin, length of time in the host country and citizenship on the health of adults, using data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). As the logistic regressions reveal, some immigrant groups are more likely to perceive worse self-rated health and to suffer from depression than native-born groups, even when demographic and socio-economic variables are taken into account. In particular, people born in Eastern Europe living in Germany, France and Sweden have the highest odds ratio of poor health with respect to natives. Nativity status, duration and citizenship clearly contribute towards explaining health differences which are shown to vary significantly across countries. Furthermore, the perception of poor health rises as the length of stay increases, although a non-linear pattern was found. Results indicate that greater efforts by policy makers are needed in order to improve the health of specific middle-aged and older groups of immigrants in Europe.

scholarly journals AGING-RELATED CHANGES IN MENTAL, PHYSICAL, AND COGNITIVE HEALTH: THE IMPACT OF THE RETIREMENT TRANSITION

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S798-S798
Author(s):  
Robert S Stawski ◽  
Kelly D Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Cognitive Health ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Retirement Transition ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Retirement is an important transition in later life, associated with changes in social roles. It is unclear, however, whether the retirement transition modifies aging-related changes in mental, physical, and cognitive health. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we examined changes in depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and memory prior to, at, and after the retirement transition among 6,830 participants (Ages=50-97, 58% female) assessed biennially up to 10 times from 1992-2010. Preliminary results indicate a sudden and significant increase in depressive symptoms and decreases in self-rated health and memory at the transition to retirement (ps&lt;.05). These effects increased among individuals retiring at older ages (ps&lt;.01). Further, aging-related increases in depressive symptomatology became faster after retirement (p&lt;.01). Aging-related decreases in self-rated health and memory were unchanged by the transition. Discussion will focus on the contribution of transitions to understanding trajectories of mental, physical, and cognitive health in later life.

scholarly journals Education as the Great Equalizer? Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Effect of Education on Cognitive Impairment in Later Life

Geriatrics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherman-Wilkins ◽  
Thierry
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Later Life ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Cognitively Impaired ◽  
Racial And Ethnic Differences ◽  
Logistic Regression Models

Though evidence suggests that the prevalence of cognitive impairment has declined, there still exists a disproportionate burden of ill cognitive health for people of color. In this paper, we test two alternative mechanisms to explain the interactive effect of education and race/ethnicity on cognitive impairment risk: the minority poverty and diminishing returns hypotheses. Drawing on data from the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (n = 8093), we estimate logistic regression models to determine differential effects of education on cognitive impairment. We find that non-Hispanic black and Mexican American older adults have higher odds of being cognitively impaired compared to whites, though the ethnic difference (whites vs. Mexican Americans) is mediated by education. Further, we find that while high levels of education are protective against cognitive impairment at older ages, it is more protective for non-Hispanic blacks than for whites and more protective for whites than Mexican Americans. Lastly, we find that racial/ethnic disparities are widest at lower levels of education, consistent with the minority poverty hypothesis. We conclude that the results herein highlight the importance of attending to how factors that are protective for cognitive functioning (e.g., education) may operate differently across racial and ethnic groups.

scholarly journals Education in early life markedly reduces the probability of cognitive impairment in later life in Colombia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary O’Donovan ◽  
Mark Hamer ◽  
Olga L. Sarmiento ◽  
Philipp Hessel
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Population Attributable Fraction ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
National Study ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
State Examination

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate associations between education in early life and cognitive impairment in later life in Colombia. Participants were community-dwelling adults aged 60 years or older from the National Study of Health, Wellbeing and Ageing. Trained interviewers administered a shorter version of the mini-mental state examination. Cognitive impairment was defined as the lowest tertile in the main analysis and as a score of 12 or less out of 19 in the sensitivity analysis. Logistic regression models were adjusted for education, other early life characteristics, and later life characteristics. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 17.93% in the main analysis (n = 16,505). Compared with participants with no education, the fully adjusted odds ratio for cognitive impairment was 0.57 (95% confidence interval: 0.52, 0.63) in those with some primary education and 0.29 (95% confidence interval: 0.25, 0.34) in those with some secondary education or more. The population attributable fraction for education suggests that at least 10% of cases of cognitive impairment would be eliminated if all children received an education. Similar results were observed in the sensitivity analysis (n = 20,174). This study suggests that education in early life markedly reduces the probability of cognitive impairment in late life in Colombia.

Non-Spousal Support, Marital Status, and Mortality Risk

2021 ◽  
pp. 089826432110253
Author(s):  
Adam R. Roth ◽  
Siyun Peng
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Spousal Support ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Never Married ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Using Data

Objective To investigate whether the association between non-spousal support and mortality risk differs by marital status. Methods Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 2460), we estimate a series of logistic regression models to assess how non-spousal support moderates the relationship between marital status and mortality across a 5-year period. Results Never married respondents who had minimal perceived access to non-spousal support had a greater probability of death compared to married respondents with similar levels of non-spousal support. The disparity in mortality risk between these two groups disappeared when non-spousal support was high. Discussion Although family and friends play an important role in mortality risk in later life, these findings suggest that never married older adults exhibit a heightened dependence on support from non-spousal sources. Future research and policies should explore ways in which never married older adults can be integrated into a supportive social environment.

Systematic review of health behavioral risks and cognitive health in older adults

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunhwan Lee ◽  
Joung Hwan Back ◽  
Jinhee Kim ◽  
Si-Heon Kim ◽  
Duk L. Na ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Health

ABSTRACTBackground:An increasing body of evidence suggests that health behaviors may protect against cognitive impairment and dementia. The purpose of this study was to summarize the current evidence on health behavioral factors predicting cognitive health through a systematic review of the published literature.Methods:PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched for studies on community representative samples aged 65 and older, with prospective cohort design and multivariate analysis. The outcome – cognitive health – was defined as a continuum of cognitive function ranging from cognitive decline to impairment and dementia, and health behaviors included physical activity, smoking, alcohol drinking, body mass index, and diet and nutrition.Results:Of 12,105 abstracts identified, 690 relevant full-texts were reviewed. The final yield amounted to 115 articles of which 37 studies were chosen that met the highest standards of quality. Leisure time physical activity, even of moderate level, showed protective effects against dementia, whereas smoking elevated the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Moderate alcohol consumption tended to be protective against cognitive decline and dementia, but nondrinkers and frequent drinkers exhibited a higher risk for dementia and cognitive impairment. Midlife obesity had an adverse effect on cognitive function in later life. Analysis showed vegetable and fish consumption to be of benefit, whereas, persons consuming a diet high in saturated fat had an increased dementia risk.Conclusion:The review demonstrates accumulating evidence supporting health behavioral effects in reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Results indicate potential benefits of healthy lifestyles in protecting cognitive health in later life.

scholarly journals Effects of Cystatin C on Cognitive Impairment in Older Chinese Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 153331752096510
Author(s):  
Zhizhen Cui ◽  
Guizhen Cao ◽  
Youyi Wang ◽  
Qinghua Ma ◽  
Congju Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cystatin C ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Chinese Adults ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Older Chinese ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Older Chinese Adults ◽  
Multivariable Adjustment

Objective: To find a suitable dividing value to classify cystatin C and evaluate the association between cognition and levels of cystatin C. Methods: Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, We conducted a longitudinal analysis of a prospective cohort of 6,869 middle-aged and older Chinese without cognitive impairment at baseline. Levels of cystatin C were categorized into 2 groups by method of decision tree. Logistic regression models evaluated whether cystatin C was related to cognitive impairment. Results: Respondents were categorized as lower levels of cystatin C and higher levels of cystatin C, cut-point was 1.11 mg/L. Higher levels of cystatin C was associated with the odds of cognitive impairment (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.10-2.22) after multivariable adjustment. Respondents with higher levels of cystatin C had worse cognition scores. Conclusions: We found a suitable dividing value of cystatin C in middle-aged and older Chinese.

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