Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32211786›Full record

ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2020

Disparity in Educational Attainment Partially Explains Cognitive Gender Differences in Older Rural South Africans.

Meagan T Farrell, Lindsay C Kobayashi, Livia Montana, Ryan G Wagner, Nele Demeyere, Lisa Berkman

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PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Exploring the relationship between pain, cognition, and chronic conditions: insights from the HAALSI study in rural South Africa.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Meagan T FarrellHarvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Lindsay C KobayashiDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Livia MontanaHarvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ryan G WagnerMRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Nele DemeyereCognitive Neuropsychology Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK.
Lisa BerkmanHarvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Funding

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PREDICTORS OF PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONP01AG041710 · NIA · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI Michele Michele Ramsay · 2013 to 2026
$37.3M
An Innovative Language Controlled Tablet-Based Cognitive Test: Harmonizing Dementia Screening across High and Low Literacy CountriesR01AG051144 · NIA · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI BERKMAN, LISA F · 2015 to 2016
$764k
Epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Cognition: Innovative Approaches to Global HarmonizationR56AG054066 · NIA · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI BERKMAN, LISA F · 2016 to 2016
$706k
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG041710NIA NIH HHS R01 AG051144NIA NIH HHS R56 AG054066Wellcome TrustWellcome Trust 058893/Z/99/AWellcome Trust 069683/Z/02/ZWellcome Trust 085477/B/08/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesDirection and magnitude of gender differences in late-life cognitive function are inextricably tied to sociocultural context. Our study evaluates education and literacy as primary drivers of gender equality in cognitive performance among middle-aged and older adults in rural South Africa.

methodData were collected on 1,938 participants aged 40-79 from Agincourt, South Africa. Cognitive function was measured via the Oxford Cognitive Screen-Plus, a tablet-based assessment with low literacy demands. Four cognitive domains were derived through confirmatory factor analysis: episodic memory, executive function, visual spatial, and language. Structural equation models tested domain-specific gender effects, incrementally controlling for demographic, education, health, and socioeconomic variables.

resultsIn the model adjusting only for demographic factors, men outperformed women on executive function and visual-spatial domains. Adding education and literacy to the model revealed a robust female advantage in episodic memory, and reduced the magnitude of male advantage in executive function and visual and spatial by 47% and 42%, respectively. Health and socioeconomic factors did not alter patterns of gender associations in subsequent models. DISCUSSION: In this older South African cohort, gender inequality in cognitive performance was partially attributable to educational differences. Understanding biopsychosocial mechanisms that promote cognitive resilience in older women is critically important given the predominantly female composition of aging populations worldwide.

Indexed as

CognitionEducational StatusHealth Status DisparitiesAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsRural PopulationSex FactorsSocioeconomic FactorsSouth AfricaCognitive agingEducationGender differencesLiteracySub-Saharan Africa

Identifiers

PMID32211786
PMCPMC7424269

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Registered trials

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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.