TY - JOUR
T1 - Cognitive decline in adulthood
T2 - An 11.5-year follow-up of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study
AU - Lyketsos, Constantine G.
AU - Chen, Li Shiun
AU - Anthony, James C.
PY - 1999/1
Y1 - 1999/1
N2 - Objective: The epidemiology of cognitive decline over 11.5 years was investigated in a large community-residing population, with a special emphasis on the relationship between education and cognitive decline. Method: The study was an 11.5-year follow-up of a probability sample of the adult household residents of east Baltimore. From the Baltimore cohort of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, 1,488 participants completed the Mini- Mental State during three study waves in 1981, 1982, and 1993-1996. For each study participant, the difference in scores on the Mini-Mental State between waves 2 and 3 was calculated. Results: Over a median interval of 11.5 years, the study participants' scores on the Mini-Mental State declined a mean of 1.41 points, and the scores of 68% of the participants declined by at least 1 Mini-Mental State point. With and without adjustment for age, greater declines were associated with having 8 years or less of formal education and with being African American. Conclusions: Over a long time period, cognitive decline occurred in all age groups. Having more than 8 years of formal education was associated with less decline. However, beyond 9 years, additional education was not associated with a further reduction in cognitive decline. This suggests that a minimal amount of education during early critical periods might confer protection against cognitive decline later in life.
AB - Objective: The epidemiology of cognitive decline over 11.5 years was investigated in a large community-residing population, with a special emphasis on the relationship between education and cognitive decline. Method: The study was an 11.5-year follow-up of a probability sample of the adult household residents of east Baltimore. From the Baltimore cohort of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, 1,488 participants completed the Mini- Mental State during three study waves in 1981, 1982, and 1993-1996. For each study participant, the difference in scores on the Mini-Mental State between waves 2 and 3 was calculated. Results: Over a median interval of 11.5 years, the study participants' scores on the Mini-Mental State declined a mean of 1.41 points, and the scores of 68% of the participants declined by at least 1 Mini-Mental State point. With and without adjustment for age, greater declines were associated with having 8 years or less of formal education and with being African American. Conclusions: Over a long time period, cognitive decline occurred in all age groups. Having more than 8 years of formal education was associated with less decline. However, beyond 9 years, additional education was not associated with a further reduction in cognitive decline. This suggests that a minimal amount of education during early critical periods might confer protection against cognitive decline later in life.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032898056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032898056&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1176/ajp.156.1.58
DO - 10.1176/ajp.156.1.58
M3 - Article
C2 - 9892298
AN - SCOPUS:0032898056
SN - 0002-953X
VL - 156
SP - 58
EP - 65
JO - American Journal of Psychiatry
JF - American Journal of Psychiatry
IS - 1
ER -