ArticleNeuroepidemiology2019
Cognitive Function and Impairment in Older, Rural South African Adults: Evidence from "Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in Rural South Africa".
Article in Neuroepidemiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Magnitude and predictors of mild cognitive impairment among older populations in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Mental health and well-being of older adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- Dominant and Modifiable Risk Factors for Dementia in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- The performance of a novel, diabetes-specific cognitive screening tool against the MoCA in older adults with type 2 diabetes.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Article
- Cognitive aging across the life course in a low-income context: evidence from Malawi.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Diabetes and cognitive health in India: a nationally representative survey of adults aged 45 years and older.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Causal Effects of Schooling on Memory at Older Ages in Six Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Nonparametric Evidence With Harmonized Datasets.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Assessing neurocognitive functioning among adults ageing with and without HIV at the Kenyan Coast: measurement issues and correlates.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Article
- Impact of the South African Child Support Grant on memory decline and dementia probability in rural and low-income mothers, 2014-2021.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Article
- Article
- Chronic Conditions and Multimorbidity Among Middle-Aged and Elderly Peri-Urban Dwellers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.International journal of public health · 2024Article
- The impacts of social determinants of health and cardiometabolic factors on cognitive and functional aging in Colombian underserved populations.GeroScience · 2023Article
- Risk factors for mild cognitive impairment among older adults in a hospital in southern Nigeria.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023Article
- Genome-wide association study of population-standardised cognitive performance phenotypes in a rural South African community.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Cognition and Cognitive Changes in a Low-Income Sub-Saharan African Aging Population.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Article
- Cohort Profile Update: Cognition and dementia in the Health and Aging in Africa Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH community in South Africa (HAALSI dementia).International journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Patterns of comorbidity and multimorbidity among middle-aged and elderly women in peri-urban Tanzania.Journal of multimorbidity and comorbidity · 2022Article
- Do You See What Eye See? Measurement, Correlates, and Functional Associations of Objective and Self-Reported Vision Impairment in Aging South Africans.Journal of aging and health · 2021Article
- Grandchild Caregiving and Cognitive Health Among Grandparents in Rural South Africa.Journal of aging and health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
aimsWe aimed to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment, and the sociodemographic and comorbid predictors of cognitive function among older, rural South African adults.
methodsData were from a population-based study of 5,059 adults aged ≥40 years in rural South Africa in 2015. Cognitive impairment was defined as scoring ≤1.5 SDs below the mean composite time orientation and memory score, or requiring a proxy interview with "fair" or "poor" proxy-reported memory. Multiple linear regression estimated the sociodemographic and comorbid predictors of cognitive score, with multiplicative statistical interactions between each of age and sex with education.
resultsCognitive impairment increased with age, from 2% of those aged 40-44 (11/516) to 24% of those aged ≥75 years (214/899). The independent predictors of lower cognitive score were being older, female, unmarried, not working, having low education, low household wealth, and a history of cardiovascular conditions. Education modified the negative associations between female sex, older age, and cognitive function score.
conclusionsThe prevalence of cognitive impairment increased with age and is comparable to rates of dementia reported in other sub-Saharan African countries. Age and sex differences in cognitive function scores were minimized as education increased, potentially reflecting the power of even poor-quality education to improve cognitive reserve.
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