Occupational cognitive requirements and late-life cognitive aging

Neurology. 2016 Apr 12;86(15):1386-1392. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002569. Epub 2016 Mar 16.

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether occupational cognitive requirements, as a marker of adulthood cognitive activity, are associated with late-life cognition and cognitive decline.

Methods: Main lifetime occupation information for 7,637 participants aged >65 years of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) was linked with standardized data on worker attributes and job characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Ratings of cognitive processes required in 10 work-related tasks were used to create a summary measure of occupational cognitive requirements (possible range 0-7). Multivariable-adjusted linear mixed models were used to estimate the association of occupational cognitive requirements score (OCRS) with cognitive function and rate of cognitive decline.

Results: Higher OCRS corresponded to significantly better late-life cognitive performance at baseline in 1993 (p < 0.001) and to slower decline in global cognitive function over time (p = 0.004). Within a genotyped subsample (n = 4,104), the associations of OCRS with rate of cognitive decline did not differ significantly by APOE ε4 carriership (p = 0.11).

Conclusions: Findings suggest that occupational cognitive requirements are associated with better cognition and a slower rate of cognitive decline in older age. Adulthood cognitive activity may contribute to cognitive reserve in late life.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Cognitive Aging / physiology*
  • Cognitive Aging / psychology*
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / diagnosis
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / psychology
  • Employment / psychology*
  • Employment / trends
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Surveys and Questionnaires