ArticleNeurology2009
Lifespan influences on mid- to late-life cognitive function in a Chinese birth cohort.
Article in Neurology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Associations of Birth Size with Physical and Cognitive Function in Men and Women 60 Years and Older-Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Size at birth and cognitive ability in late life: A systematic review.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2019Pooled it
- Adolescent cohorts assessing growth, cardiovascular and cognitive outcomes in low and middle-income countries.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Early-life conditions and older adult health in low- and middle-income countries: a review.Journal of developmental origins of health and disease · 2013Pooled it
- Effectiveness of dairy products to protect against cognitive decline in later life: a narrative review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Social determinants of health and cognitive function: A cross-sectional study among men without dementia.Brain and behavior · 2023Article
- Article
- Duration of Poverty and Subsequent Cognitive Function and Decline Among Older Adults in China, 2005-2018.Neurology · 2021Article
- Migration and cognitive function: a conceptual framework for Global Health Research.Global health research and policy · 2018Review
- The impact of residential status on cognitive decline among older adults in China: Results from a longitudinal study.BMC geriatrics · 2017Observational
- Adult Body Height Is a Good Predictor of Different Dimensions of Cognitive Function in Aged Individuals: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2016Article
- Early life development in a multiethnic sample and the relation to late life cognition.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2015Article
- The Effect of Prenatal and Childhood Development on Hearing, Vision and Cognition in Adulthood.PloS one · 2015Article
- Life course socioeconomic position and mid-late life cognitive function in Eastern Europe.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2014Article
- Early life origins cognitive decline: findings in elderly men in the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.PloS one · 2013Article
- The impact of early life factors on cognitive function in old age: The Hordaland Health Study (HUSK).BMC psychology · 2013Article
- Birth measurements, family history, and environmental factors associated with later-life hypertensive status.American journal of hypertension · 2012Article
- Forced expiratory volume in 1 second and cognitive aging in men.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2011Article
- Life-span socioeconomic trajectory, nativity, and cognitive aging in Mexican Americans: the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2011Article
- Association of Birth Weight with Health and Long-Term Survival up to Middle and Old Ages in China.Journal of population ageing · 2010Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo explore factors throughout the lifespan that influence cognition in midlife to late life.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective birth cohort study of 2,062 individuals born during 1921-1954 in Beijing, China. In 2003-2005, birth records were abstracted, and participants then 50-82 years old received standardized examinations for health, cognition, and socio-environmental measures. Using cumulative logit models, we assessed adjusted relative effects of prenatal, early life, and adult factors on mid- to late-life cognition.
resultsMost prenatal factors were associated with mid- to late-life cognition in the unadjusted models. However, when childhood and adult factors were sequentially added to the models, the impact of prenatal factors showed successive attenuation in effect size, and became insignificant. In contrast, early life factors remained significantly associated with mid- to late-life cognition even after full life-course adjustments. Specifically, those whose fathers had laborer vs professional occupations (odds ratio [OR](Laborer) 1.74; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-2.42) had poorer cognitive outcomes, while individuals who drank milk daily in childhood (OR 0.65; 95% CI: 0.54-0.80), had more years of education (OR(10-12 years) 0.60; 95% CI: 0.45-0.81; OR(13+ yrs) 0.29; 95% CI: 0.23-0.38), and were taller adults (OR(height > or = SD) 0.65; 95% CI: 0.49-0.86) had better cognition. The high prenatal risk infants had similar patterns with a trend toward a stronger association between cognition and socioenvironmental factors.
conclusionMid- to late-life cognition is influenced by factors over the entire lifespan with the greatest impact coming from early life exposures. Nutrition, education, social, and family environment in early life may have a long-term impact on cognition in developing countries.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.