Cardiovascular health and education as sources of individual variability in cognitive aging among African Americans.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the interrelated effects of cardiovascular health, education, and cognitive functioning in African Americans.

METHOD

The present study utilized data from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging to examine whether (a) cardiovascular health and educational attainment predicted cognitive functioning, after controlling for age, and (b) there was an interaction between cardiovascular health and education in predicting cognitive functioning.

RESULTS

Using hierarchical regression analyses, results showed education was significant for all cognitive measures; however, cardiovascular health was significant for only three.

DISCUSSION

These findings suggest that although self-reported cardiovascular health contributes to variability in late life cognition in African Americans, education is a more universal predictor that should be further examined.