New Study Reveals Elderly in the U.S Are Smarter Than Their English Peers
"U.S. seniors performed significantly better than their counterparts in England on standard tests of memory and cognitive function, according to a new study.
The study is the first known international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the United States and England. The report is published in the June 25 peer-reviewed journal BMC Geriatrics.
"The better cognitive performance of U.S. adults was surprising since U.S. adults had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, which are generally associated with cognitive decline and poorer mental function," says University of Michigan researcher Kenneth Langa, lead author of the study.
For the study, Langa and colleagues compared data on 8,299 Americans age 65 and older with 5,276 British seniors. The same cognitive tests were administered to the two groups in the same year.
The U.S. advantage in "brain health" was greatest for the oldest old—those age 85 and older. On a population level, the overall difference in cognitive performance between the two countries was quite large—approaching the magnitude associated with about 10 years of aging.
In other words, the cognitive performance of 75-year-olds in the U.S. was as good, on average, as that of 65-year-olds in England."
The study is the first known international comparison of cognitive function in nationally representative samples of older adults in the United States and England. The report is published in the June 25 peer-reviewed journal BMC Geriatrics.
"The better cognitive performance of U.S. adults was surprising since U.S. adults had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, which are generally associated with cognitive decline and poorer mental function," says University of Michigan researcher Kenneth Langa, lead author of the study.
For the study, Langa and colleagues compared data on 8,299 Americans age 65 and older with 5,276 British seniors. The same cognitive tests were administered to the two groups in the same year.
The U.S. advantage in "brain health" was greatest for the oldest old—those age 85 and older. On a population level, the overall difference in cognitive performance between the two countries was quite large—approaching the magnitude associated with about 10 years of aging.
In other words, the cognitive performance of 75-year-olds in the U.S. was as good, on average, as that of 65-year-olds in England."
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