XXXX in childhood and @entity73 in mid-life: longitudinal birth cohort study.

@entity1 @entity73
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between cognitive ability in childhood and mid-life @entity73 in the normal population. DESIGN: Longitudinal, population based, birth cohort study. @entity1 : 2058 @entity1 and @entity1 born in 1946. MAIN STUDY MEASURES: Ability in childhood measured by AH4 and test of verbal comprehension at age 15 years. Ability in adulthood measured by the national adult reading test (NART) at age 53 years. Outcome measures were decline in memory (word list learning) and speed and concentration (timed visual search) from age 43 to 53 years. RESULTS: Ability in childhood was significantly and negatively associated with decline in memory (beta = 0.09, P = 0.005, for @entity1 ; 0.10, P < 0.001, for @entity1 ) and search speed (beta = 0.13, P < 0.001, for @entity1 ; 0.08, P = 0.01, for @entity1 ), independent of educational attainment, occupational social class, and a range of health indicators. The adult reading test was also significantly and negatively associated with decline in these outcomes (for memory beta = 0.21, P < 0.001, for @entity1 ; 0.17, P < 0.001, for @entity1 ; and for search speed beta = -0.05 for @entity1 ; 0.10, P = 0.008 for @entity1 ) independent of educational attainment, social class, and childhood ability. CONCLUSIONS: Ability in childhood can protect against @entity73 in mid-life and beyond. Results for the adult reading test indicate that the protective effect of ability may also be acquired in adulthood.
