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Does targeted cognitive training reduce educational disparities in cognitive function among cognitively normal older adults?
Clark DO, Xu H, Unverzagt FW, Hendrie H.. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2015-12-07
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate educational differences in treatment responses to memory, reasoning, and speed of processing cognitive training relative to no-contact control. Methods Secondary analyses of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly trial were conducted. Two thousand eight hundred older adults were randomized to memory, reasoning, or speed of processing training or no-contact control. A repeated-measures mixed-effects model was used to investigate immediate post-training and 1-year outcomes with sensitivity analyses out to 10 years. Outcomes were as follows: (1) memory composite of Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, and Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test; (2) reasoning composite of letter series, letter sets, and word series; and (3) speed of processing measured using three trials of useful field of view and the digit symbol substitution test. Results The effects of reasoning and memory training did not differ by educational attainment. The effect of speed of processing training did. Those with fewer than 12 years of education experienced a 50% greater effect on the useful field of view test compared with those with 16 or more years of education. The training advantage for those with fewer than 12 years of education was maintained to 3 years post-training. Conclusion Older adults with less than a secondary education are at elevated risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. The analyses here indicate that speed of processing training is effective in older adults with low educational attainment.
Key findings
- Results The effects of reasoning and memory training did not differ by educational attainment.
- Those with fewer than 12 years of education experienced a 50% greater effect on the useful field of view test compared with those with 16 or more years of education.
- The analyses here indicate that speed of processing training is effective in older adults with low educational attainment.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 69/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 40 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 69 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (International journal of geriatric psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 26644115) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 40 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 69 out of 100. |
| Total | 69 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Clark, D. O., Xu, H., Unverzagt, F. W., & Hendrie, H. (2016). Does targeted cognitive training reduce educational disparities in cognitive function among cognitively normal older adults? International journal of geriatric psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4395
Vancouver
Clark DO, Xu H, Unverzagt FW, Hendrie H. Does targeted cognitive training reduce educational disparities in cognitive function among cognitively normal older adults? International journal of geriatric psychiatry. 2016. doi:10.1002/gps.4395. PMID: 26644115.
BibTeX
@article{clark2016-26644115,
author = {Clark, D. O. and Xu, H. and Unverzagt, F. W. and Hendrie, H.},
title = {{Does targeted cognitive training reduce educational disparities in cognitive function among cognitively normal older adults?}},
journal = {International journal of geriatric psychiatry},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1002/gps.4395},
pmid = {26644115},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4395}
}