Individual capital and cognitive ageing in Guatemala

Abstract

Using data from adults 50 years and older in Guatemala (N = 643), we assessed to what extent measures of individual capital—economic, social, intellectual, and biological—were associated with and account for variation in cognitive functioning, as measured by the Modified Mini-Mental Status Exam (M-MMSE). Measures of these components of individual capital are positively associated with cognitive functioning, and together with other attributes, account for 29.6 per cent of its variance. Schooling accounts for the largest unique share (5.3 per cent) of the variance, followed by household standard of living (2.0 per cent), church attendance (1.3 per cent), and z-score for height (0.9 per cent). In a setting like Guatemala—with low schooling, widespread poverty, malnutrition, and infectious disease—early life investments that increase schooling and improve nutrition may be valuable as investments to mitigate cognitive impairment in older adults and its contribution to the disease burden.

Keywords:

• ageing
• cognitive functioning
• Guatemala
• individual capital
• life course

Notes

1. Kathryn M. Yount is at the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and at the Department of Sociology, Emory University, 1555 Dickey Dr., Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. E-mail: [email protected]. John Hoddinott is at the International Food Policy Research Institute, and Aryeh D. Stein and Ann M. DiGirolamo are also at the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.

2. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Ms Meng Wang for aspects of the data analysis for this research and Dr Paul Melgar, Field Director for this study. This research was supported by grant HD-045627 from the National Institutes of Health. Funding for earlier waves of data collection on which this study builds was provided by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Nestle Foundation, and the Thrasher Research Foundation. Funding for data analysis was provided by the NIH, the US National Science Foundation, and the American Heart Association. The authors are indebted to the many investigators and support staff who over 40 years have developed and sustained the unique cohort used for this study. Finally, the investigators thank the cohort members for their continued cooperation.