American adults belonging in the baby boomer generation showed a “shocking” decline in cognitive functioning compared with members of previous generations, a new study has found.
Researchers from Ohio State University were studying the declining prevalence of dementia in the US over the last few decades and found that the average cognition scores among those born between 1890 and 1947 increased from generation to generation.
But scores began to decline among adults born between 1948 to 1959, worsening for those born in the last five years of that subset.
Cognition scores peaked among war babies, or those born between 1942 to 1947.
The results of the study suggests the decline in dementia may begin to rise again in the coming decades, said author Hui Zheng, professor of sociology at Ohio State University.
He said: “It is shocking to see this decline in cognitive functioning among baby boomers after generations of increases in test scores.
“But what was most surprising to me is that this decline is seen in all groups: men and women, across all races and ethnicities and across all education, income and wealth levels.”
Baby boomers who are less wealthy and have higher levels of loneliness, depression, inactivity and cardiovascular risk factors showed lower cognitive functioning within the group.
The study, published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, analysed data on 30,191 Americans who participated in the 1996 to 2014 Health and Retirement Survey, which was conducted by the University of Michigan.
“Baby boomers already start having lower cognition scores than earlier generations at age 50 to 54,” said Mr Zheng.
The decline in cognitive functioning could not be attributed to poorer childhood conditions as baby boomers’ childhood health was as good as or better than previous generations. In fact, baby boomers came from families with higher socio-economic statuses and had higher levels of education, as well as better jobs.
In fact, Mr Zheng said the baby boomer generation would have “even worse cognitive functioning” if it weren’t for “their better childhood health, more favourable family background, more years of education and higher likelihood of having a while-collar occupation”.
He added that the study highlighted problems that are unique to the US, such as a lack of universal access and high cost of health care.
“Part of the story here are the problems of modern life, but it is also about life in the US.
“With the ageing population in the United States, we are already likely to see an increase in the number of people with dementia.
“But this study suggests it may be worse than we expected for decades to come,” he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments