title: Sex differences in cognition among illiterate Bangladeshis: a comparison with literate Bangladeshis and Swedes.
abstract: We investigated the presence and magnitude of sex differences in late adulthood, assessing 426 illiterate Bangladeshis, 239 literate Bangladeshis, and 598 Swedes. The cognitive domains examined included calculation, episodic memory, spatial visualization, and global cognitive ability. In general, men performed at a higher level than women on tasks assessing calculation and spatial visualization, whereas women performed at a higher level than men on the episodic memory task. Notably, the pattern of cognitive sex differences was similar irrespective of nationality and literacy, although the magnitude of the male advantage was inversely related to level of education. Finally, the low performance of the illiterate women demonstrated the penalizing effect restrictions in public exposure might have on cognitive performance.
authors.affiliation: Aging Research Center, Division of Geriatric Epidemiology, Neurotec, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herlitz
authors.forename: Zarina N
authors.initials: ZN
authors.lastname: Kabir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001459:Bangladesh; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D013548:Sweden