Childhood Adversity Predicts Late-life Cognitive Decline, Study Finds

Education levels in childhood impact late-life cognition in Indian women finds a new study.

How one grew up in childhood, the level of nutrition and education level may impact cognition as an older adult, especially for an Indian woman with less education, says a study by researchers from the Universities of South Alabama, Southern California, and Michigan and the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai, with data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). 

The data suggested that women may have poorer late-life cognition than men due to differences in education and early nutrition, proving that gender inequalities continue into old age. 

What is LASI?

The LASI is a full-scale national survey of scientific investigation of the health, economic, and social determinants and consequences of population ageing in India. It surveys over 73,000 older adults aged 45 and above across India's states and union territories. LASI will be conducted every three years for the next 25 years.

What's the connection between education and cognitive health?

According to the findings, education during youth and early adulthood may be essential for maintaining cognitive health later. Engaging in late-life cognitive activity is important to prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias. 

Older women typically have weaker cognition than older men in many low- and middle-income nations. Research has suggested that gender variations in academic achievement may contribute to this discrepancy. 

Research says early socioeconomic nutrition and schooling could account for up to 74 per cent of the cognitive disadvantage faced by women. It typically takes nine years of study to make up for this shortfall. 

Why do we need to know this?

Because discussions on gender equality in India tend to be around women of a younger age. Indians over the age of 60 will double by 2050, constituting almost 19.6 per cent of the total population, and it is time to look at this disparity with an age-agnostic lens. 

"Much of what is known about gender inequality in India has focused on women at younger ages like childhood, adolescence, and reproductive ages. Relatively less is known about gender disparities at older ages," writes Urvashi Jain, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Mitchell College of Business, University of South Alabama, in Gateway to Global Aging.

"This has been partly due to the lack of suitable datasets focusing on ageing and partly due to a larger proportion of the young population. Demographic changes underway in India, however, project that the country will soon have to contend with population ageing, as the proportion of those aged sixty and older is set to reach 19% of the total population by the year 2050. Hence, we need to know more and understand the unique challenges faced by this population, especially paying attention to questions at the intersection of ageing and gender inequality." Jain says in her article.

As most of us know, India's female literacy rate lags behind the male literacy rate. According to a study by the National Statistical Office, India's country-wide female literacy rate is 70.3%, while the male literacy rate is estimated at 84.7%.

The difference in cognition between older men and women is minimal for people with at least a middle school education in states where women and men are treated more equally.  Older women in areas with fewer opportunities may require more education to make up for the lack of cognitive stimulation they get through employment and social interactions. 

How could such data help policy?

Older women with lesser levels of education are a vulnerable sub-population due to poorer levels of health, especially cognitive health, and should receive special attention. Jain writes: "As per the Dementia in India 2020 report, the number of dementia cases among Indians aged 60 and older is projected to reach 14 million by 2050. Identifying at-risk groups is bound to become a public health priority – gender and education level will play a key role here." 

Image used for representation purposes only.

Courtesy: Unsplash