Olivera Javier, Andreoli Francesco, Leist Anja K, Chauvel Louis
Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Belval, Luxembourg; Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP), Lima, Peru.
Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), Belval, Luxembourg.
Econ Hum Biol. 2018 May;29:179-188. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2018.03.002. Epub 2018 Mar 22.
Although cohort and country differences in average cognitive levels are well established, identifying the degree and determinants of inequalities in old age cognitive functioning could guide public health and policymaking efforts. We use all publicly available and representative old age surveys with comparable information to assess inequalities of cognitive functioning for six distinctive age groups in 29 countries. We document that cognitive inequalities in old age are largely determined by earlier educational inequalities as well as gender differential survival rates. For example, a one percentage point increase in the Gini index of past education is associated with an increase of 0.45 percentage points in the Gini index of delayed recall and 0.23 percentage points in the Gini of immediate recall. Results are robust to a variety of alternative explanations and persist even after controlling for gender-related biases in survival rates. Furthermore, we find evidence that unequal opportunities for education -captured by differences in parental background and gender- also have significant effects on inequality of old age cognition.
尽管队列和国家在平均认知水平上的差异已得到充分证实，但确定老年认知功能不平等的程度和决定因素可为公共卫生和政策制定工作提供指导。我们使用所有公开可用且具有代表性的老年调查数据，这些数据包含可比信息，以评估29个国家六个不同年龄组认知功能的不平等情况。我们证明，老年认知不平等在很大程度上由早期教育不平等以及性别差异生存率所决定。例如，过去教育的基尼系数每增加一个百分点，延迟回忆的基尼系数就会增加0.45个百分点，即时回忆的基尼系数会增加0.23个百分点。结果对于各种替代解释都具有稳健性，即使在控制了生存率中与性别相关的偏差之后仍然成立。此外，我们发现有证据表明，由父母背景和性别差异所体现的教育机会不平等，也对老年认知不平等产生重大影响。
