Sisco Shannon, Gross Alden L, Shih Regina A, Sachs Bonnie C, Glymour M Maria, Bangen Katherine J, Benitez Andreana, Skinner Jeannine, Schneider Brooke C, Manly Jennifer J
Department of Veterans Affairs, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Gainesville.
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2015 Jul;70(4):557-67. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt133. Epub 2014 Feb 28.
Racial disparities in late-life cognition persist even after accounting for educational attainment. We examined whether early-life educational quality and literacy in later life help explain these disparities.
We used longitudinal data from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP). Educational quality (percent white students; urban/rural school; combined grades in classroom) was operationalized using canonical correlation analysis. Late-life literacy (reading comprehension and ability, writing) was operationalized using confirmatory factor analysis. We examined whether these factors attenuated race-related differences in late-life cognition.
The sample consisted of 1,679 U.S.-born, non-Hispanic, community-living adults aged 65-102 (71% black, 29% white; 70% women). Accounting for educational quality and literacy reduced disparities by 29% for general cognitive functioning, 26% for memory, and 32% for executive functioning but did not predict differences in rate of cognitive change.
Early-life educational quality and literacy in late life explain a substantial portion of race-related disparities in late-life cognitive function.
即便考虑了受教育程度,晚年认知方面的种族差异依然存在。我们研究了早年教育质量和晚年识字能力是否有助于解释这些差异。
我们使用了来自华盛顿高地 - 因伍德哥伦比亚老龄化项目(WHICAP)的纵向数据。教育质量(白人学生百分比;城市/农村学校;课堂综合成绩)通过典型相关分析来衡量。晚年识字能力(阅读理解和能力、写作)通过验证性因素分析来衡量。我们研究了这些因素是否减弱了晚年认知方面与种族相关的差异。
样本包括1679名美国出生的、非西班牙裔、居住在社区的65 - 102岁成年人(71%为黑人,29%为白人;70%为女性)。考虑教育质量和识字能力后,一般认知功能方面的差异减少了29%,记忆方面减少了26%,执行功能方面减少了32%,但并未预测认知变化率的差异。
早年教育质量和晚年识字能力解释了晚年认知功能中与种族相关差异的很大一部分。