DO CHILDHOOD CONDITIONS OF LIFE INFLUENCE COGNITION AT ADULT AGE?

Aim. To assess changes of cognitive function in population older 55 y. in relation with childhood life conditions.

Material and methods. The study is a part of prospective cohort trial “Stress, ageing and health”. Totally, 1816 participants included, of those 20% (358) with declined cognitive ability. Childhood life conditions were evaluated with the questions: “Characterize the place where you spent most of your childhood”, “Education level of your parent”, “When you were growing up, was your family wealth better or worse than average that times?”, “When you were growing up, how often you went to bed with hunger due to lack of food in your family?”. Life quality was measured with the score Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and decreased life quality was set if less than 24 points from 30. Associations were evaluated with logistic regression after correction for social and demographic parameters, alcohol intake status and diagnoses of arterial hypertension and stroke.

Results. With analysis of decreased cognitive function association and conditions of life, it was found that childhood in rural areas increases the risk of the problem 1,6 times (p=0,001). Higher education of father (not mother) decreases the risk of lower cognitive functioning by 45% (p=0,001). There were significant associations of hunger in childhood with decreased cognitive function (p=0,006). Also, the lower wealth in the family where participant was growing up, the higher risk of decreased cognitive functioning at later stage of life (HR 1,68 (95% CI 1,07-1,94) p=0,02).

Conclusion. Results of the current study witness on the presence of adverse childhood life circumstances and cognition decline at adulthood.

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