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35/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 35 out of 100. Risk factors

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Compared to those in rural areas, participants who resided in urban areas during young adulthood had lower late midlife ADI (β = -0.85, p < .05), and better executive function (β = 0.19), processing speed (β = 0.24), and verbal fluency (β = 0.30) (ps < .05) in older adulthood. ADI partially mediated these associations, such that urban residence was associated with lower ADI, which was then associated with better performance in these three domains (indirect effects: βs = 0.02 to 0.03). Late midlife neighborhood disadvantage represents a contextual pathway linking early-life rural-urban residence to cognitive function in older adulthood. Reducing socioeconomic disadvantage through health policies and interventions at both the community-level early in life and the neighborhood-level later in life may help reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Key findings

Compared to those in rural areas, participants who resided in urban areas during young adulthood had lower late midlife ADI (β = -0.85, p < .05), and better executive function (β = 0.19), processing speed (β = 0.24), and verbal fluency (β = 0.30) (ps < .05) in older adulthood.
ADI partially mediated these associations, such that urban residence was associated with lower ADI, which was then associated with better performance in these three domains (indirect effects: βs = 0.02 to 0.03).
Late midlife neighborhood disadvantage represents a contextual pathway linking early-life rural-urban residence to cognitive function in older adulthood.
Reducing socioeconomic disadvantage through health policies and interventions at both the community-level early in life and the neighborhood-level later in life may help reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

Why it matters

Men who lived in urban areas in young adulthood had less neighborhood disadvantage in later midlife and better performance on several cognitive tests in older age. Neighborhood disadvantage partly explained this link, suggesting community conditions across life may matter for cognition, though the study cannot prove cause and effect.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 35/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 34 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 35 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journals of Gerontology Series B)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	The Journals of Gerontology Series B: journal h-index 225 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	5 / 5	2026 — within 1 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	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	0 / 7	Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026
Impact for its field and year	0 / 6	Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Nicholas Schork holds only 1 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score
Institution's track record	3 / 3	University of Washington: institution h-index 3,540 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42178222)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Points	34 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 34 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 35 out of 100.
Total	35 / 100	—

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Read the original

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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Tang, R., Beck, A. I., Gustavson, D. E., Eyler, L. T., Elman, J. A., Bell, T. R., et al. (2026). Young adult urbanicity, late midlife neighborhood disadvantage, and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older men. The Journals of Gerontology Series B. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag093

Vancouver

Tang R, Beck AI, Gustavson DE, Eyler LT, Elman JA, Bell TR, et al. Young adult urbanicity, late midlife neighborhood disadvantage, and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older men. The Journals of Gerontology Series B. 2026. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbag093. PMID: 42178222.

BibTeX

@article{tang2026-42178222,
  author  = {Tang, Rongxiang and Beck, Asad I. and Gustavson, Daniel E. and Eyler, Lisa T. and Elman, Jeremy A. and Bell, Tyler Reed and Buchholz, Erik J. and Hunt, J R and others},
  title   = {{Young adult urbanicity, late midlife neighborhood disadvantage, and cognitive functioning in community-dwelling older men}},
  journal = {The Journals of Gerontology Series B},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.1093/geronb/gbag093},
  pmid    = {42178222},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag093}
}

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