TY - JOUR
T1 - Coordinated analysis of age, sex, and education effects on change in MMSE scores
AU - Piccinin, Andrea M.
AU - Muniz-Terrera, Graciela
AU - Clouston, Sean
AU - Reynolds, Chandra A.
AU - Thorvaldsson, Valgeir
AU - Deary, Ian J.
AU - Deeg, Dorly J.H.
AU - Johansson, Boo
AU - MacKinnon, Andrew
AU - Spiro, Avron
AU - Starr, John M.
AU - Skoog, Ingmar
AU - Hofer, Scott M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (grant number AG026453) in support of the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging (IALSA) research network. Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA) has been funded by the National Institute on Aging (AG04563, AG10175), the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging, the Swedish Council for Social Research (97:0147:1B), and the Swedish Research Council (2007–2722). Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) is largely supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Health Welfare and Sports. Healthy Older Person Edinburgh (HOPE) was funded by the Chief Scientist Office, U.K. Canberra Longitudinal Study (CLS) was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Origins of Variance in the Oldest-Old (OCTO-Twin) data collection was funded by the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (grant number AG08861), the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Adlerbertska Foundation, the Hjalmar Svensson Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundations, and the Wilhelm and Martina Lundgrens Foundation. Current work on Gerontological and Geriatric Population Studies in Gothenburg, Sweden (H70) and OCTO-Twin was supported by the Swedish Research Council, Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, Swedish Brain Power, and Epilife. H-70 was funded by the Swedish Research Council. Support was provided to S. Clouston by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CUK-103284) and to A. Spiro by Merit Review and Research Career Scientist Awards from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This article, however, does not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - Objectives. We describe and compare the expected performance trajectories of older adults on the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) across six independent studies from four countries in the context of a collaborative network of longitudinal studies of aging. A coordinated analysis approach is used to compare patterns of change conditional on sample composition differences related to age, sex, and education. Such coordination accelerates evaluation of particular hypotheses. In particular, we focus on the effect of educational attainment on cognitive decline.Method. Regular and Tobit mixed models were fit to MMSE scores from each study separately. The effects of age, sex, and education were examined based on more than one centering point.Results. Findings were relatively consistent across studies. On average, MMSE scores were lower for older individuals and declined over time. Education predicted MMSE score, but, with two exceptions, was not associated with decline in MMSE over time.Conclusion. A straightforward association between educational attainment and rate of cognitive decline was not supported. Thoughtful consideration is needed when synthesizing evidence across studies, as methodologies adopted and sample characteristics, such as educational attainment, invariably differ.
AB - Objectives. We describe and compare the expected performance trajectories of older adults on the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) across six independent studies from four countries in the context of a collaborative network of longitudinal studies of aging. A coordinated analysis approach is used to compare patterns of change conditional on sample composition differences related to age, sex, and education. Such coordination accelerates evaluation of particular hypotheses. In particular, we focus on the effect of educational attainment on cognitive decline.Method. Regular and Tobit mixed models were fit to MMSE scores from each study separately. The effects of age, sex, and education were examined based on more than one centering point.Results. Findings were relatively consistent across studies. On average, MMSE scores were lower for older individuals and declined over time. Education predicted MMSE score, but, with two exceptions, was not associated with decline in MMSE over time.Conclusion. A straightforward association between educational attainment and rate of cognitive decline was not supported. Thoughtful consideration is needed when synthesizing evidence across studies, as methodologies adopted and sample characteristics, such as educational attainment, invariably differ.
KW - Cognitive
KW - Coordinated Analysis
KW - Education
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Mental Status Exam
KW - Meta-analysis
KW - Mixed Model
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbs077
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbs077
M3 - Article
C2 - 23033357
AN - SCOPUS:84876517437
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 68
SP - 374
EP - 390
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 3
ER -