High performance older adults in a population-based sample with low education: Pietà study

Autor: Karoline Carvalho Carmona, Elisa de Paula França Resende, Henrique Cerqueira Guimarães, Thais Helena Machado, Viviane Amaral-Carvalho, Etelvina Lucas dos Santos, Maira Tonidandel Barbosa, Paulo Caramelli
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, Vol 81, Iss 02, Pp 112-118 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0004-282X
1678-4227
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1759760
Popis: Background Healthy brain aging can be defined as aging without neurological or psychiatric disorders, sustaining functional independence. In addition to the absence of disease and preserved functionality, there are individuals who stand out for their superior performance to that considered normal for their age in cognitive tests. These individuals are called “high-performance older adults” (HPOA). Objectives To investigate the presence of HPOA in an oldest-old population with low education, and if present, to investigate associations with sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables. Methods We evaluated 132 cognitively healthy individuals from the Pietà Study, a population-based investigation with 639 participants. We used the delayed recall from the Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test to verify the existence of HPOA and to classify participants based on their performance. Sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle variables associated with HPOA were investigated. Results We identified 18 individuals fulfilling HPOA criteria (age: 77.4 ± 2.6 years old; 14 women; education: 4.6 ± 3.4 years). The other participants, 114 total (age: 79.8 ± 4.5 years old; 69 women; education: 3.0 ± 2.7 years) were classified as “standard performance older adults” (SPOA). In multivariate analysis, younger age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.672; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.462–0.979; p = 0.037) and lower scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale (OR = 0.831; 95%CI: 0.688–0.989; p = 0.038) were associated with HPOA. Conclusions The present study identifies for the first time HPOA with low educational level, thereby reinforcing the existence of biological substrates related to this condition. Furthermore, the data suggest an association between younger age and less depressive symptoms with HPOA.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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