Sudden Declines in Intelligence in Old Age Predict Death and Dropout From Longitudinal Studies

It is well known that approaching death accelerates cognitive decline. The converse issue, that is, the question of whether rapid declines in cognitive ability are risk factors for imminent death, has not been investigated. Every 4 years between 1983 and 2003, we gave 1,414 healthy community residen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2008-07, Vol.63 (4), p.P205-P211
Main Authors: Rabbitt, Patrick, Lunn, Mary, Wong, Danny, Cobain, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Censuses
Changes
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Cognitive decline
Cognitive impairment
Death
Death awareness
Developmental psychology
Dropout
Dropping out
Dying
England
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geriatric Assessment - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Intelligence
Intelligence tests
Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Mortality
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Older people
Patient Dropouts - psychology
Patient Dropouts - statistics & numerical data
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychometrics
Research methodology
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Studies
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Summary:It is well known that approaching death accelerates cognitive decline. The converse issue, that is, the question of whether rapid declines in cognitive ability are risk factors for imminent death, has not been investigated. Every 4 years between 1983 and 2003, we gave 1,414 healthy community residents who were aged between 49 and 93 years the Heim AH4-1 test of fluid intelligence. A modified Andersen–Gill model evaluated AH4-1 scores at entry to the study and changes in scores between successive quadrennial test sessions as risk factors for death and dropout. Deaths, dropouts, age, gender, occupational categories, and recruitment cohorts were also taken into account. Participants with lower AH4-1 scores on entry were significantly more likely to die or to drop out. At all ages and levels of baseline intelligence, the risks of deaths and dropouts further increased if test scores fell by 10%, and again increased if they fell by 20% during 4-year intervals between successive assessments.
ISSN:1079-5014
1758-5368
DOI:10.1093/geronb/63.4.P205