Cross-national coordinated analysis (IALSA) of age, sex, and education effects on change in MMSE scores

• In a cross-national, multi-study (ALSA, CLS, H-70, HOPE, NAS, OCTO-Twin, LASA) analysis, we systematically address concerns regarding the effect of educational attainment on Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) scores in a descriptive comparison of between-person dif-ferences and within-person age changes. We describe the coordinated analysis process and the first results from the IALSA network. Marked country and birth cohort differences in educa-tional attainment required a flexible modeling approach: median years in school ranged from 6 in LASA and the older Swedish cohorts to 12 in CLS and NAS. For studies with similarly coded education, higher educated participants scored higher and showed less decline. Ignoring the impact of declining health, on average, at age 80, men with six years of education scored between 25 and 27 on the MMSE and declined about 0.3 points per year. Older individuals tend to score lower and decline at a faster rate. Gender differences were mixed.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Cross-national

sex

education

longitudinal

MMSE

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)