Early-Life Conditions and Cognitive Function in Middle-and Old-Aged Chinese Adults: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

A range of previous studies have suggested that early-life conditions (ELCs) are associated with various health problems throughout life in Western societies. The aim of this study was to investigate whether, and how, early-life conditions predicted the level and trajectory of cognitive function in middle- and old-aged Chinese adults. Data were obtained from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study which comprised 16,258 adults at baseline. Cognitive function was assessed using mental intactness and episodic memory and ELCs were measured by early parental death, childhood socioeconomic status (SES), food deprivation, and childhood health. Growth curve modeling was used to examine the trajectory of cognitive function (three waves in a 6-year period)with particular attention paid to the effects of ELCs on cognition. The results show that early maternal death is associated with the baseline cognitive level among middle- and old-aged Chinese adults (β range between −0.44 and −0.35, p < 0.05), but that this association is also largely attenuated by adulthood education. Higher childhood SES predicts an enhanced level of baseline cognition in both age groups (β range between 0.08 and 1.27, p < 0.001), but only protects against cognitive decline at baseline in middle-aged adults. Participants who were less healthy during childhood tended to have lower cognitive performance than those who had enjoyed good health (β range between −0.36 and −0.14, p < 0.05). The results of this study highlight the detrimental impact of deleterious ELCs on cognitive function throughout later life.

Association of life course socioeconomic status and adult height with cognitive functioning of older adults in India and China

“…Overall, the association of childhood socioeconomic status and height with cognitive functioning was significant in India and China, suggesting the similarities in the association of childhood socioeconomic status and height in determining later life cognitive functioning. The results of this study on the association between parental education and later life cognitive functioning are consistent with the findings of previous studies conducted in China and South Africa suggesting the long-term effect of childhood circumstances in developing countries [27,28,31,32]. We also observed lower cognitive functioning score among older adults whose parents had no schooling across different ages which highlighted the role of childhood circumstances; this is consistent with previous literature [50].…”

“…Childhood socioeconomic status plays an important role in determining the higher educational attainment, immunisation, health, and nutrition which have a significant impact in later life [20][21][22][23]. Studies mainly from high-income countries showed strong association of adverse childhood circumstances such as poor socioeconomic status, and childhood poverty/deprivation with poor cognitive functioning, cognitive impairment, and dementia [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, very few studies have examined the association between life course socioeconomic status and cognitive functioning in low and middleincome countries [32].…”

Association of Life Course Socioeconomic Status and Adult Height With Cognitive Capacity Among Older Adults in India and China: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The results of this study are consistent with previous studies conducted on the association between parental education and later life cognition suggesting the long-term effect of childhood circumstances in developing countries such as China and South Africa (31,32,35,41). We also observed a faster decline of cognitive functioning among older adults whose parents had no schooling which highlighted the role of childhood circumstances across different age period as consistent with previous literature (61).…”

“…Childhood circumstance is one of the key factors in determining cognitive functioning across the life course and play important role in determining cross-national subgroup level variations (27,28). Studies mainly from high-income countries showed a strong association of childhood circumstances such as poor socioeconomic status, and childhood poverty deprivation with cognitive functioning, cognitive impairment, and dementia (24,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35). Childhood socioeconomic status play an important role in determining higher educational attainment, immunisation, health and nutrition which has a signi cant impact in later life (36-39. Particularly, the association between the mother's educational attainment and cognitive functioning is strongly correlated independent of adult socioeconomic status (30).…”

Income-Related Mortality Inequalities and Its Social Factors among Middle-Aged and Older Adults at the District Level in Aging Seoul: An Ecological Study Using Administrative Big Data

“…However, few studies investigated health inequalities among MOAs [ 9 ]. Considering the full-fledged effect of socioeconomic status on health begin to take place from midlife, and epidemiological studies set the 45-year-old as a starting point of the midlife [ 10 , 11 , 12 ], this study investigated Seoul residents whose age were 45 or plus.…”