The Effect of Educational Attainment on Cognition of Older Adults: Results From the Mexican Health and Aging Study 2001 and 2012

Carlos Diaz-Venegas , Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Rafael Samper-Ternent, University of Texas at Galveston
Alejandra Michaels-Obregon, University of Texas at Galveston
Rebeca Wong, University of Texas at Galveston

Objective: This paper seeks to document changes in the effect of educational attainment on cognitive function of older adults in Mexico, and measure gender differences using data from two time periods. Methods: The data come from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), taking the cross-sections of adults aged 60+ interviewed in 2001 and 2012. We perform an OLS regression using standardized z-scores for five individual cognitive domains and total cognition. Results: Total cognitive scores and educational attainment were higher for men than women in both years. The gender gap in overall cognition score was smaller in 2012 than in 2001, while the gender gap in educational attainment was larger in 2012 than in 2001. The effect of educational attainment on cognition was higher for women. Conclusions: If younger cohorts of women continue to progressively achieve higher levels of education, the gender gap in old-age cognition should close.

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 Presented in Session 6. Health & Mortality & Aging