scholarly journals Health literacy, cognitive ability and smoking: a cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e023929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Fawns-Ritchie ◽  
John M Starr ◽  
Ian J Deary
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Current Smoker ◽  
Full Time ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Occupational Social Class ◽  
English Longitudinal Study ◽  
A Current

ObjectivesWe used logistic regression to investigate whether health literacy and cognitive ability independently predicted whether participants have ever smoked and, in ever smokers, whether participants still smoked nowadays.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingThis study used data from Wave 2 (2004–05) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which is a cohort study of adults who live in England and who, at baseline, were aged 50 years and older.Participants8734 (mean age=65.31 years, SD=10.18) English Longitudinal Study of Ageing participants who answered questions about their current and past smoking status, and completed cognitive ability and health literacy tests at Wave 2.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome measures were whether participants reported ever smoking at Wave 2 and whether ever smokers reported still smoking at Wave 2.ResultsIn models adjusting for age, sex, age left full-time education and occupational social class, limited health literacy (OR=1.096, 95% CI 0.988 to 1.216) and higher general cognitive ability (OR=1.000, 95% CI 0.945 to 1.057) were not associated with reporting ever smoking. In ever smokers, limited compared with adequate health literacy was associated with greater odds of being a current smoker (OR=1.194, 95% CI 1.034 to 1.378) and a 1 SD higher general cognitive ability score was associated with reduced odds of being a current smoker (OR=0.878, 95% CI 0.810 to 0.951), when adjusting for age, sex, age left full-time education and occupational social class.ConclusionsWhen adjusting for education and occupation variables, this study found that health literacy and cognitive ability were independently associated with whether ever smokers continued to smoke nowadays, but not with whether participants had ever smoked.

scholarly journals Health literacy, cognitive ability and self-reported diabetes in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Fawns-Ritchie ◽  
Jackie Price ◽  
Ian J Deary
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adequate Health Literacy ◽  
Diabetes Status ◽  
English Longitudinal Study

AbstractObjectiveTo examine the association of health literacy and cognitive ability with risk of diabetes.Research Design and Methods: Participants were 8,669 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing participants (mean age 66.7 years, SD 9.7) who completed health literacy and cognitive ability tests at wave 2 (2004-2005), and who answered a self-reported question on whether a doctor had ever diagnosed them with diabetes. Logistic regression was used to examine the cross-sectional associations of health literacy and cognitive ability with diabetes status. In those without diabetes at wave 2, Cox regression was used to test the associations of health literacy and cognitive ability with risk of diabetes over a median of 9.5 years follow-up (n=6,961).ResultsAdequate (compared to limited) health literacy (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.61-0.84) and higher cognitive ability (OR per 1 SD 0.73, CI 0.67-0.80) were both associated with lower odds of self-reported diabetes. Adequate health literacy (HR 0.64; CI 0.53-0.77) and higher cognitive ability (HR 0.77, CI 0.69-0.85) were also associated with lower risk of self-reporting diabetes during follow-up. When both health literacy and cognitive ability were added to the same model, these associations were slightly attenuated. Additional adjustment for health behaviours, education and social class attenuated associations further, and neither health literacy nor cognitive ability were significantly associated with diabetes.ConclusionsAdequate health literacy and better cognitive ability were associated with reduced risk of diabetes. These associations were independent of each other, but not of other health- and socioeconomic-related variables.

Cognitive Abilities in Old Age: Results from the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging

2008 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Zimprich ◽  
Mike Martin ◽  
Matthias Kliegel ◽  
Myriam Dellenbach ◽  
Philippe Rast ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Aging ◽  
Verbal Learning ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Verbal Knowledge

The Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging (ZULU) is an ongoing longitudinal study on the structure and development of cognition in old age. At the first assessment, the N = 364 participants had an average age of 73 years (age range: 65-80 years), and 46% were female. In total, a battery of 14 cognitive tests, including five consecutive verbal learning trials, were administered and adequately described by a measurement model of six first-order factors (processing speed, working memory, reasoning, learning, memory, and verbal knowledge) and one second-order factor of general cognitive ability. The cross-sectional age relations of the six cognitive abilities were, apart from processing speed and verbal knowledge, mediated by the general cognitive ability factor. From a conceptual perspective, these results imply that cognitive aging is not a completely uniform process driven by a single causal variable.

scholarly journals Social contact and inequalities in depression and loneliness among older adults: A mediation analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J Green ◽  
Elise Whitley ◽  
Claire L Niedzwiedz ◽  
Richard J Shaw ◽  
S Vittal Katikireddi
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Depression Score ◽  
List Type ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Partner Status ◽  
English Longitudinal Study

AbstractBackgroundSocial contact, including remote contact (by telephone, email, letter or text), could help reduce social inequalities in depression and loneliness among older adults.DesignCross-sectional survey.Participants8th wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (2016/17), stratified by age (n=1,635 aged <65; n=4,123 aged 65+).MethodsInverse probability weighted estimation of average effects of weekly in-person and remote social contact on depression (score of 3+ on 8-item CES-D scale) and two measures of loneliness (sometimes/often feels lonely vs hardly ever/never; and top quintile of UCLA loneliness scale vs all others). We also estimated controlled direct effects of education, partner status, and wealth on loneliness and depression under two scenarios: 1) universal infrequent (<weekly) in-person social contact; and 2) universal weekly remote social contact.ResultsWeekly in-person social contact was associated with reduced odds of depression and loneliness, but associations with remote social contact were weak. Lower education raised odds of depression and loneliness, but differences were attenuated with infrequent in-person contact. Respondents living alone experienced more depression and loneliness than those living with a partner, and less wealth was associated with more depression. With universal infrequent in-person contact, differences narrowed among those aged under 65 but widened among those aged 65+. Universal weekly remote contact had little impact on inequalities.ConclusionsReduced in-person social contact may increase depression and loneliness among older adults, especially for those aged 65+ who live alone. Reliance on remote social contact seems unlikely to compensate for social inequalities.KeypointsIn-person social contact is associated with stronger decreases in depression and loneliness than remote contact.Universal infrequent in-person social contact could reduce educational inequalities in depression and lonelinessAdults aged 65+ who lived alone or were less wealthy were especially at risk with universally infrequent in-person contactUniversal weekly remote social contact had little impact on inequalities in depression and loneliness.

Assessing the Scholarly Reach of Terman’s Work

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaret Hodges ◽  
Rachel U. Mun ◽  
Mattie E. Oveross ◽  
Jessica K. Ottwein
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Citation Analysis ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
General Cognitive Ability ◽  
Academic Journals ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Academic Fields

Lewis M. Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius stands as one of the landmark studies of the 20th century in the educational and psychological sciences. This longitudinal study of individuals in the top 1% of general cognitive ability has sparked interest and debate among scholars for nearly 100 years. In this study, we examine how Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius has influenced academia through a bibliometric citation analysis. We gathered all scholarly works that cited one of the volumes of Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius and appeared in academic journals and mapped out the growth of scholarly citations within differing academic fields. We found that the influence of Terman’s studies extends beyond the field of education and psychology into business, medicine, and the sciences.

scholarly journals Is there a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive ability in older people? A prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (10) ◽  
pp. 2057-2069 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Gale ◽  
M. Allerhand ◽  
I. J. Deary
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Older People ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Bidirectional Relationship ◽  
English Longitudinal Study

BackgroundCross-sectional surveys of older people commonly find associations between higher levels of depressive symptoms and poorer cognitive performance, but the direction of effect is unclear. We examined whether there was a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and general cognitive ability in non-demented older people, and explored the role of physical health, smoking, exercise, social class and education as potential confounders of this association and as possible determinants of the rate of change of cognitive decline and depressive symptoms.MethodThe English Longitudinal Study of Ageing consists of people aged 50 years and over. Cognitive function and self-reported depressive symptoms were measured in 2002–2003, 2004–2005, 2006–2007 and 2008–2009. We fitted linear piecewise models with fixed knot positions to allow different slopes for different age groups. Analyses are based on 8611 people.ResultsMean cognitive function declined with age; there was no trend in the trajectory of depressive symptoms. Better cognitive function was associated with less depression up to the age of 80 years. Greater depression was associated with a slightly faster rate of cognitive decline but only in people aged 60–80 years. There were no consistent associations across age groups between sex, smoking, education, social class, exercise or number of chronic physical illnesses and the rate of change of cognitive decline or depressive symptoms.ConclusionsIn this longitudinal study of older people, there was no consistent evidence that being more depressed led to an acceleration in cognitive decline and no support for the hypothesis that there might be reciprocal dynamic influences between cognitive ability and depressive symptoms.

scholarly journals Haplotype-based association analysis of general cognitive ability in Generation Scotland, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and UK Biobank

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Howard ◽  
Mark J. Adams ◽  
Toni-Kim Clarke ◽  
Eleanor M. Wigmore ◽  
Yanni Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Association Analysis ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Gene Coding ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Generation Scotland ◽  
English Longitudinal Study

Background: Cognitive ability is a heritable trait with a polygenic architecture, for which several associated variants have been identified using genotype-based and candidate gene approaches. Haplotype-based analyses are a complementary technique that take phased genotype data into account, and potentially provide greater statistical power to detect lower frequency variants. Methods: In the present analysis, three cohort studies (ntotal = 48,002) were utilised: Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), and the UK Biobank. A genome-wide haplotype-based meta-analysis of cognitive ability was performed, as well as a targeted meta-analysis of several gene coding regions. Results: None of the assessed haplotypes provided evidence of a statistically significant association with cognitive ability in either the individual cohorts or the meta-analysis. Within the meta-analysis, the haplotype with the lowest observed P-value overlapped with the D-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA) gene coding region. This coding region has previously been associated with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, which have all been shown to impact upon cognitive ability. Another potentially interesting region highlighted within the current genome-wide association analysis (GS:SFHS: P = 4.09 x 10-7), was the butyrylcholinesterase (BCHE) gene coding region. The protein encoded by BCHE has been shown to influence the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and its role in cognitive ability merits further investigation. Conclusions: Although no evidence was found for any haplotypes with a statistically significant association with cognitive ability, our results did provide further evidence that the genetic variants contributing to the variance of cognitive ability are likely to be of small effect.

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