Predictors of cognitive abilities, cognitive ageing and longevity in an elderly cohort in the Faroe Islands

A cohort of septuagenarians (N = 713, age = 70 – 74 years) underwent medical and cognitive examination in 2008/09. Surviving members of the cohort are currently being re-examined, 9 years later, at the age of 79 – 83... [ view full abstract ]

A cohort of septuagenarians (N = 713, age = 70 – 74 years) underwent medical and cognitive examination in 2008/09. Surviving members of the cohort are currently being re-examined, 9 years later, at the age of 79 – 83 years.

First, we will briefly describe the cohort by demographics, health risk factors, subjective health measures, chronic medical conditions, daily medications, clinical and biomedical measures, prenatal and current exposure to environmental pollutants, and school marks from elementary education in childhood. Then, a confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) measurement model of the battery of cognitive tests from the first-wave examination will be presented. Building on this model, some major predictors for general intelligence and for specific cognitive abilities will be entered in a structural equation model (SEM) while correcting for mandatory covariates. Also, predictors of longevity will be explored. Lastly, ageing and predictors of ageing over the past nine years will be presented with the preliminary data available from the ongoing examinations.