Social Inequality and Cognitive Ability in Older Mexican Adults

Carlos Díaz-Venegas, University of Texas at Galveston
Rafael Samper-Ternent, University of Texas at Galveston
Alejandra Michaels-Obregon, University of Texas at Galveston

Objectives: Previous research on the aging process comes mostly from developed countries, wherein social and economic disparities are less pronounced than in developed societies. This paper seeks to document the impact of social inequalities in cognitive ability of older adults in Mexico. Data/Methods: The data come from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a national sample of adults born in 1951 or earlier, including a baseline survey in 2001 and follow-ups in 2003 and 2012. An ordinal logistic regression approach is used to measure the 2012 overall cognition score controlling for socioeconomic variables that capture social and economic disparities. Preliminary Results: Females have higher verbal recall score than men while those living in urban areas have higher scores than those living in rural areas. The full paper presents a more-complete model of cognitive progression and its socioeconomic covariates to conclude on the high risk population for cognitive decline.