title: The role of early-life educational quality and literacy in explaining racial disparities in cognition in late life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Racial disparities in late-life cognition persist even after accounting for educational attainment. We examined whether early-life educational quality and literacy in later life help explain these disparities.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used longitudinal data from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP). Educational quality (percent white students; urban/rural school; combined grades in classroom) was operationalized using canonical correlation analysis. Late-life literacy (reading comprehension and ability, writing) was operationalized using confirmatory factor analysis. We examined whether these factors attenuated race-related differences in late-life cognition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample consisted of 1,679 U.S.-born, non-Hispanic, community-living adults aged 65-102 (71% black, 29% white; 70% women). Accounting for educational quality and literacy reduced disparities by 29% for general cognitive functioning, 26% for memory, and 32% for executive functioning but did not predict differences in rate of cognitive change.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early-life educational quality and literacy in late life explain a substantial portion of race-related disparities in late-life cognitive function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Gainesville. Shannon.Sisco@va.gov.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sisco
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland. Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Alden L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia.
authors.forename: Regina A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond.
authors.forename: Bonnie C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Sachs
authors.affiliation: Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: M Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Glymour
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla.
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Bangen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Center for Biomedical Imaging, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
authors.forename: Andreana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benitez
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
authors.forename: Jeannine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, California.
authors.forename: Brooke C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Manly
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009519:New York City / Q000208:ethnology; D011932:Reading; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014956:Writing
keywords: Cognition; Life events and contexts; Minority and diverse populations