In:
Age and Ageing, Oxford University Press (OUP), Vol. 52, No. 2 ( 2023-02-01)
Abstract:
The extent to which education explains variations in sex differences in cognitive function between countries at different levels of economic development is unknown. We examined the role of education in sex differences in four cognitive domains in high- and middle-income countries. Methods Analyses were based on 70,846 participants, aged 60 years and older, in cohort studies from a high-income (United States) and four middle-income countries (Mexico, Brazil, China, and India). We used weighted linear models to allow nationally-representative comparisons of sex differences in orientation, memory, attention, and fluency using the United States as the reference, before and after adjustment for education, and after stratification by education. Results Females had lower levels of education than males in all countries, particularly in India. Before adjustment for education, sex differences in orientation and attention in all middle-income countries, memory in Brazil, China, and India, and fluency in India were less favourable to females than in the United States (P & lt; 0.010). For example, females outperformed males in memory in the United States (mean difference [male–female scores] = −0.26 standard deviations [95% CI −0.30, −0.22] ) but not in China (0.15 [0.09, 0.21]) or India (0.16 [0.13, 0.19] ). Adjustment for education attenuated these sex differences. In analyses stratified by education, there were minimal sex differences in the high education group in all countries. Conclusion Education contributes to larger female disadvantages in cognitive function at older ages in middle-income countries compared with the United States. Gender equity in education is an important target to reduce sex disparities in cognitive function globally.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0002-0729
,
1468-2834
DOI:
10.1093/ageing/afad019
Language:
English
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2065766-3
