US seniors performed significantly better that their English counterparts, revealed by researchers. The finding is surprising because older people in the US are known to suffer more from cardiovascular risk factors and diseases generally associated with more cognitive decline and poorer mental function.
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan have carried out this first international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the US and England.
The study compared 8,299 Americans with 5,276 British seniors aged 65 and older. The same cognitive tests were administered to the two groups in the same year.
The US advantage in ‘brain health’ was greatest for those aged 85 and older. On a population level, the overall difference in cognitive performance between the two countries was quite large and amounted to a decade of ageing ? the cognitive performance of 75-year-olds in the US was as good, on average, as that of 65-year-olds in England.
Data from the US population came from the Health and Retirement Study, conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research and funded by the National Institute on Aging. Data on the UK study were from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Both are nationally representative, population-based studies designed to facilitate direct comparisons of health, wealth and well-being among older men and women.
Participating individuals in both countries took memory tests of immediate and delayed recall of 10 common nouns including hotel, river, tree, skin, gold, village, baby and table (Test your memory).
They heard the words spoken and were asked to repeat as many as possible immediately. Then they completed other survey questions and five minutes later, were asked to repeat as many of the words as possible. During the interview participants were also asked what day, date, month and year it was. Taken together, their answers (10 points for immediate recall, 10 for delayed recall and four for orientation) made up a 24-point scale of cognitive function (to test memory).
The researchers compared scores stratified by age, gender, and education as well as country. The mean score for the combined cognitive scale was 12.5 (out of 24) for the youngest group of English adults (ages 65-74) and 8.3 for the oldest group (age 85 and older). The mean scores for the youngest and oldest groups in the U.S. were 13.8 and 10.1, respectively.
U.S. adults reported significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than English adults, and this may have accounted for some of the U.S. advantage in ‘brain health’ since depression is linked with worse cognitive function.
The research team also found significant differences in alcohol consumption between the U.S. and English seniors. More than 50 percent of U.S. seniors reported no alcohol use, compared to only 15.5 percent of English seniors. This is khown that moderate alcohol consumption, compared to abstinence, is linked with better cognition among those aged 50 and over.
Source: Peninsula Medical School, UK