ArticleThe Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association2022
Rural depopulation and the rural-urban gap in cognitive functioning among older adults.
Article in The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Tailoring multidomain intervention programs to reduce cognitive and physical decline in older adults: Examining rural-urban differences in a nationwide cluster-randomized controlled trial.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Trial
- Family stress model pathways to cognitive function in older adulthood.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2026Article
- Midlife and late-life neighborhood socioeconomic status and cognitive function in later life: Differences by race.Annals of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Health and well-being among older adults in Zhejiang Province, China.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Urbanicity and Disparities in the Functional and Physical Abilities of Older Adults Using the Health and Retirement Study: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2025Article
- The associations between midlife neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and late-life cognitive trajectories: The mediating roles of hemoglobin A1c and blood pressure.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Technology Activities and Cognitive Trajectories Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: National Health and Aging Trends Study.JMIR aging · 2025Article
- The intersection of rurality and dementia prevalence in Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous peoples.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025Article
- Lifespan exposures to rural-urban conditions and later-life cognitive function.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Diverging cognitive benefits from education between rural and urban middle-aged and older adults in the USA.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2025Review
- Analysis of urban-rural differences in cognitive function among empty nest older adult in China based on Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Internet Use and Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Chinese Adults: 5-Year Longitudinal Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- The Best of Two Worlds to Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging: Definition and Classification Approach of Hybrid Physical Training Interventions.JMIR aging · 2024Article
- 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2024Review
- Rural-urban differences in personality traits and well-being in adulthood.Journal of personality · 2024Article
- Profiles of physical frailty, social frailty, and cognitive impairment among older adults in rural areas of China: a latent profile analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Income inequality and healthcare utilization of the older adults-based on a study in three provinces and six cities in China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Social isolation and loneliness prevention among rural older adults aging-in-place: a needs assessment.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Community distress as a predictor of early hernia recurrence for older adults undergoing ventral hernia repair (VHR).Surgical endoscopy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Funding
Abstract
purposeAs the population ages, the number of people with cognitive impairment will rapidly increase. Although previous research has explored the rural-urban gap in physical health, few studies have analyzed cognitive health. The purpose of this study was to examine rural-urban differences in cognitive health, with a focus on the moderating effect of population decline.
methodsThe study used individual-level nationally representative data from the 2000-2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 152,444) merged to county-level contextual characteristics. Hierarchical linear models were used to predict the cognitive functioning of US adults aged 50 and over by rural-urban residence, county depopulation, and their interactions while controlling for individual-level and county-level demographic and contextual factors.
findingsOlder adults living in rural counties had lower cognitive functioning than urban adults. The interaction between living in a rural and depopulated county was statistically significant (P < .001). The rural penalty in cognitive functioning was 40% larger for those who lived in counties that lost population between 1980 and 2010 compared to those who lived in stable or growing rural counties. These results were independent of race-ethnicity, gender, age, education, income, region, employment status, marital status, physical health, and depression as well as the county's racial-ethnic composition, age structure, economic and educational disadvantage, and health care shortages.
conclusionsThe results have important implications for those seeking to reduce health disparities both between rural and urban older adults and among different groups of rural people. Interventions targeting those living in rural depopulating areas are particularly warranted.
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