Poor People Have Poor Cognitive Status? Study Sheds Light
Socioeconomic factors such as education, occupation, and wealth influence the likelihood of developing cognitive impairment or dementia in later life and whether a person is likely to recover, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The research, published in Scientific Reports, followed 8,442 adults aged 50 and above in England over 10 years from 2009 to 2019, to examine how socioeconomic factors at the start of the study were associated with changes in cognitive status.
The researchers tracked how these people moved between various states: healthy, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. They also considered the possibility of reversals, where individuals improved from a mild cognitive impairment state to a healthy one.
Information on socioeconomic factors was collected through a self-completion questionnaire. Cognitive impairment was determined using a mix of sources, including participants’ reports of a doctor’s diagnosis, cognitive test results, and their own reports of symptoms and complaints, providing a full picture of each participant’s cognitive health. In addition to these aspects, the study also accounted for demographic factors, such as age, sex, and marital status.
The team found that people from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds – particularly those with post-secondary school education, managerial or professional-level occupations, and those in the wealthiest third of the population – were less likely to move from a healthy cognitive state to mild cognitive impairment, or from mild cognitive impairment to dementia compared to those with primary education, working in manual or routine occupations, and in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged third of the population. For instance, being in the wealthiest third of the population was linked with a 26% lower chance of shifting from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.
Reference: Gireesh, A., Sacker, A., McMunn, A., Bhatt, R., & Cadar, D. (2024). Socioeconomic inequalities linked to the transitioning to neurocognitive disorders and mortality. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 24690.
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