Trends and determinants of severe cognitive impairment – longitudinal results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Uta Ziegler, German Center for Neurodegenerative Research DZNE and Rostock Center for Demographic Research
Gabriele Doblhammer-Reiter, University of Rostock

With the aging of the population also the fear of a dramatically increasing number of cognitively impaired people increases. Is the increase parallel with the increase of elderly people? We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to analyze a trend and determinants of severe cognitive impairment (SCI) in 11 European countries between the two waves in 2004/5 and 2006/7. Results show improvements in cognition over time. The increase of incidence with age is similar to the increase in other studies. Logistic regressions confirm age to be the strongest risk factor. The higher risk for females becomes insignificant when education is controlled for. Risk factors besides low education are ‘living in an institution’, lifestyle factors such as body weight, smoking, drinking, being active. Further risk factors are physical and mental health variables such as IADL, ‘severe limitations in activities’, depression and quality of life.