Associations between cognitive abilities and life satisfaction in the oldest-old. Results from the longitudinal population study Good Aging in Skåne

Figures & data

Table 1 Results on cognitive tests, mean and SD at baseline for the study population and dropouts

Cognitive variable	Study population,		Dropout		P-value	Range
	Mean (SD)	n	Mean (SD)	n
Age (years)	83.0 (4.4)	681	85.4 (4.8)	572	<0.001	–
Trail Making Test B (A)	52.8 (40.5)	560	61.6 (41.9)	345	<0.002	–
Verbal fluency F (A)	12.6 (5.2)	624	10.9 (5.1)	428	<0.001	–
Verbal fluency A (A)	9.8 (4.9)	623	8.2 (4.5)	425	<0.001	–
Verbal fluency, animals (A)	17.3 (5.8)	628	14.9 (5.8)	434	<0.001	–
Verbal fluency, occupations (A)	12.8 (4.6)	621	10.6 (4.4)	429	<0.001	–
Confidence (A)	6.4 (1.6)	627	6.1 (1.6)	432	<0.001	0–10
Comparing figures (B)	9.8 (3.2)	569	8.6 (3.3)	355	<0.001	0–30
Digit cancellation (B)	14.3 (3.8)	582	13.3 (4.0)	365	<0.001	–
Word recall (C)	5.8 (2.1)	594	5.0 (2.3)	395	<0.001	0–16
Mental rotations (D)	5.5 (1.7)	557	5.4 (1.6)	343	0.420	0–10
Digit span, forward (E)	6.0 (1.7)	616	5.7 (1.7)	424	0.015	0–14
Digit span, backward (E)	4.9 (1.8)	613	4.5 (1.9)	421	<0.001	0–14
Synonym test (F)	19.1 (6.2)	605	17.2 (6.3)	385	<0.001	0–30

Note: Differences in numbers could mainly be explained by vision impairment and dementia.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; n, number; A, executive functioning; B, processing speed; C, episodic memory; D, spatial abilities; E, working memory; F, semantic memory.

Table 2 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between cognitive variables at baseline and life satisfaction index A at reexamination with P-values in parentheses

Cognitive variable	All	Stroke	No stroke	No depressive mood	Depressive mood
	r (P)	r (P) n = 73	r (P) n = 605	r (P) n = 507	r (P) n = 117
Trail Making Test (A)	−0.13 (0.004)	0.08 (0.642)	−0.14 (0.003)	−0.14 (0.006)	−0.08 (0.461)
Verbal fluency F (A)	0.07 (0.133)	0.06 (0.679)	0.06 (0.223)	0.04 (0.393)	0.25 (0.014)
Verbal fluency A (A)	0.10 (0.033)	0.01 (0.967)	0.09 (0.050)	0.06 (0.217)	0.28 (0.006)
Verbal fluency, animals (A)	0.12 (0.006)	−0.10 (0.503)	0.13 (0.005)	0.07 (0.130)	0.29 (0.005)
Verbal fluency, occupations (A)	0.13 (0.003)	−0.04 (0.804)	0.13 (0.004)	0.10 (0.047)	0.24 (0.023)
Confidence (A)	0.07 (0.086)	−0.20 (0.190)	0.09 (0.038)	0.03 (0.531)	0.15 (0.167)
Digit cancellation (B)	0.13 (0.003)	0.16 (0.333)	0.12 (0.012)	0.12 (0.014)	0.24 (0.025)
Comparing figures (B)	0.17 (<0.001)	0.26 (0.126)	0.16 (<0.001)	0.18 (<0.001)	0.16 (0.130)
Word recall (C)	0.10 (0.032)	0.18 (0.280)	0.09 (0.065)	0.10 (0.043)	0.07 (0.501)
Mental rotations (D)	0.16 (<0.001)	−0.16 (0.353)	0.18 (<0.001)	0.17 (0.001)	0.09 (0.418)
Digit span forward (E)	0.02 (0.724)	0.03 (0.868)	0.01 (0.830)	−0.02 (0.667)	0.18 (0.091)
Digit span backward (E)	0.07 (0.101)	0.11 (0.868)	0.06 (0.172)	0.07 (0.163)	0.11 (0.309)
Synonym test (F)	0.03 (0.045)	−0.04 (0.804)	0.03 (0.453)	−0.01 (0.813)	0.15 (0.142)

Note: Baseline variables for the whole study population as well as stratified for stroke and depressive mood.

Abbreviations: A, executive functioning; B, processing speed; C, episodic memory; D, spatial abilities; E, working memory; F, semantic memory.

Table 3 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between the Life Satisfaction Index A at reexamination and cognitive variables at baseline stratified for education and functional capacity (ADL)

Cognitive variable	High education	Low education	ADL, independent	ADL, dependent
	r (P) n = 231	r (P) n = 436	r (P) n = 299	r (P) n = 351
TMT B (A)	−0.14 (0.052)	−0.13 (0.021)	−0.13 (0.045)	−0.10 (0.141)
Verbal fluency F (A)	0.05 (0.475)	0.02 (0.666)	−0.06 (0.325)	0.136 (0.029)
Verbal fluency A (A)	0.05 (0.323)	0.06 (0.381)	−0.02 (0.738)	0.15 (0.013)
Verbal fluency animals (A)	0.21 (0.004)	0.03 (0.543)	0.06 (0.295)	0.14 (0.019)
Verbal fluency occupations (A)	0.15 (0.037)	0.07 (0.196)	−0.002 (0.975)	0.19 (0.002)
Confidence (A)	0.09 (0.196)	0.03 (0.531)	0.07 (0.243)	0.07 (0.255)
Comparing figures (B)	0.13 (0.084)	0.17 (0.003)	0.11 (0.081)	0.21 (0.001)
Digit cancellation (B)	0.11 (0.151)	0.14 (0.015)	0.04 (0.524)	0.16 (0.013)
Word recall (C)	0.14 (0.062)	0.05 (0.355)	0.12 (0.052)	0.02 (0.724)
Mental rotations (D)	0.23 (0.002)	0.11 (0.062)	0.15 (0.018)	0.17 (0.008)
Digit span, forward (E)	−0.07 (0.317)	0.03 (0.537)	−0.06 (0.301)	0.04 (0.500)
Digit span, backward (E)	0.07 (0.309)	0.03 (0.552)	−0.01 (0.872)	0.11 (0.085)
Synonyms (F)	0.09 (0.199)	−0.04 (0.452)	−0.02 (0.701)	0.04 (0.574)

Abbreviations: A, executive functioning; B, processing speed; C, episodic memory; D, spatial abilities; E, working memory; F, semantic memory.

Table 4 Linear regression models with the LSI-A at reexamination as the dependent variable and cognitive domains at baseline as the independent variables

LSI-A	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 5	Model 6
Executive abilities	0.045 (0.010)	0.045 (0.010)	0.041 (0.018)	0.030 (0.115)	0.018 (0.349)	0.014 (0.444)
Processing speed	0.165 (0.001)	0.177 (<0.001)	0.161 (0.001)	0.139 (0.006)	0.117 (0.020)	0.118 (0.020)
Episodic memory	0.302 (0.032)	0.345 (0.014)	0.303 (0.031)	0.252 (0.078)	0.194 (0.172)	0.188 (0.185)
Semantic memory	0.038 (0.445)	0.044 (0.368)	0.033 (0.502)	−0.008 (0.882)	−0.033 (0.518)	−0.056 (0.289)
Spatial abilities	0.639 (<0.001)	0.569 (0.002)	0.554 (0.002)	0.498 (0.007)	0.505 (0.006)	0.453 (0.014)
Working memory	0.107 (0.269)	0.112 (0.242)	0.091 (0.342)	0.027 (0.782)	−0.018 (0.856)	−0.016 (0.872)

Notes: The predictor variables were entered into the model separately in the following order: sex, age, education, functional capacity, and depressive mood. Represented are B-coefficients with P-values in parentheses. Depressive mood by CPRS was split into two groups, 0–6 and 7–34 points, independence/dependence in ADL, age in groups 78–84 years and 87–93 years. Model 1 is the cognitive domain. Model 2 is the cognitive domain + sex. Model 3 is the cognitive domain + sex + age. Model 4 is the cognitive domain + sex + age + education. Model 5 is the cognitive domain + sex + age + education + ADL. Model 6 is the cognitive domain + sex + age + education + ADL + CPRS.

Abbreviations: LSI-A, Life Satisfaction Index A; CPRS, Comprehensive Psychiatric Rating Scale; ADL, activities of daily life.

Table 5 Pearson’s correlation coefficients between the six cognitive domains at baseline and LSI-A at reexamination

	LSI-A	P-value
Executive abilities	0.116	0.010
Processing speed	0.153	0.001
Episodic memory	0.095	0.032
Semantic memory	0.033	0.445
Spatial abilities	0.161	<0.001
Working memory	0.048	0.269

Abbreviation: LSI-A, Life Satisfaction Index A.