Education, Wealth, and Cognitive Function in Later Life

Population-based studies of health often use education as the sole indicator of socioeconomic status (SES); the independent contributions of education and other SES covariates are rarely delineated. Using Wave 1 of the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study, the authors examined the extent to which educational attainment influences performance on three separate domains of cognitive status by race and Latino ethnicity and introduced controls for wealth and household income. Results indicate that the education effect is minimally weakened after adjusting for wealth; the wealth effect, however, is greatly attenuated after adjusting for education. Blacks and Whites exhibited a similar education--cognition relationship; Latino elderly did not experience commensurate gains in cognitive function with increasing education. Results suggest that although the education--cognition relationship may in part reflect an SES gradient, the association is more likely due to the process and consequences of education itself.