Dataset Information

Socioeconomic position in childhood and cognitive aging in Europe.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We 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.

Methods

We 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.

Results

This 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.

Conclusions

Variation 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.

SUBMITTER: Cermakova P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6205684 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:ImportanceEarly-life socioeconomic adversity may be associated with poor cognitive health over the life course.ObjectiveTo examine the association of childhood and midlife neighborhood socioeconomic position (nSEP) with cognitive decline.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study included 5711 men and women enrolled in the community-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study with repeated cognitive data measured over a median 27.0 years (IQR, 26.0-27.9 years) (1990-2019). Statistical analysis was performed from December 2022 through March 2023.ExposureResidence addresses for ARIC Study cohort participants were obtained at midlife (1990-1993) and as recalled addresses at 10 years of age (childhood). A composite nSEP z score was created as a sum of z scores for US Census-based measures of median household income; median value of owner-occupied housing units; percentage of households receiving interest, dividend, or net rental income; percentage of adults with a high school degree; percentage of adults with a college degree; and percentage of adults in professional, managerial, or executive occupations. Childhood nSEP and midlife nSEP were modeled as continuous measures and discretized into tertiles.Main outcomes and measuresA factor score for global cognition was derived from a battery of cognitive tests administered at 5 in-person visits from baseline to 2019. The rate of cognitive decline from 50 to 90 years of age was calculated by fitting mixed-effects linear regression models with age as the time scale and adjusted for race, sex, birth decade, educational level, and presence of the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele.ResultsAmong 5711 ARIC Study participants (mean [SD] baseline age, 55.1 [4.7] years; 3372 women [59.0%]; and 1313 Black participants [23.0%]), the median rate of cognitive decline was -0.33 SDs (IQR, -0.49 to -0.20 SDs) per decade. In adjusted analyses, each 1-SD-higher childhood nSEP score was associated with a slower (β, -9.2%; 95% CI, -12.1% to -6.4%) rate of cognitive decline relative to the sample median. A comparable association was observed when comparing the highest tertile with the lowest tertile of childhood nSEP (β, -17.7%; 95% CI, -24.1% to -11.3%). Midlife nSEP was not associated with the rate of cognitive decline.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of contextual factors associated with cognitive decline, childhood nSEP was inversely associated with trajectories of cognitive function throughout adulthood.