Correlates of Visuospatial Ability among Older People in Indonesia.

INTRODUCTION

The Indonesian elderly population keeps increasing. Aging is related with degeneration process, one of which is a decrease in cognitive function, including visuospatial ability. This is the first study on the visuospatial ability of Indonesian older people.

OBJECTIVE

This research aimed to assess the visuospatial ability and its correlation with sex, age, education, and general cognitive function among older people in Indonesia.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The research subjects were older people aged ≥60 years with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score ≥24. The visuospatial ability was assessed using Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) Block Design Test (BDT). Regression analysis was performed to reveal the correlation of sex, age, education, and global cognitive function with visuospatial ability.

RESULTS

Sixty older people participated in this research, with an average age of 68.08 ± 6.24, mean MMSE score of 27.43 ± 1.71, and mean WAIS-R BDT score of 27.8 ± 7.27. The female and older individuals tended to have lower scores. Subjects with higher education and global cognitive function had higher WAIS-R BDT scores. Regression analysis showed that age and sex did not have significant effect, but education and global cognitive function had positive effect on visuospatial ability.

CONCLUSION

There is a significant correlation between education and global cognitive function with visuospatial ability among older people in Indonesia.