title: Cognitive function, physical performance, health, and disease: norms from the georgia centenarian study.
abstract: This study provides, for the first time, normative data on cognitive functioning and physical performance, health and health behaviors, and diseases from a population-based sample of 244 centenarians and near-centenarians (M age = 100.5 years, range 98-108, 84.8% women, 21.3% African American) from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Data are presented by the four key dimensions of gender, race, residence, and educational attainment. Results illustrate the profound range of functioning in this age group and indicate considerable differences as a function of each dimension. Bivariate models generally suggest that cognitive functioning and physical performance is higher for men than women; whites than African Americans; community than facility residents; and those with more than high school education than those with less than high school education. Multivariate models elaborate that differences in educational attainment generally account for the largest proportion of variance in cognitive functioning and residential status generally accounts for the largest proportion of variance in physical performance measures. Addition of health variables seldom increases variance accounted for in each domain beyond these four dimensions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA. adavey@temple.edu
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: Merrill F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.forename: Ilene C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Siegler
authors.forename: Uday
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lele
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Dorothy B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hausman
authors.forename: Leonard W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Poon
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors