J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  1997 May;36(3):530-535.

Cognitive Function of the Elderly in a Rural Community

• Park JH
• Kim CS
• Kwon OY
• Kim NS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted in order to evaluate the cognitive function of the elderly and to delineate the effects of sex, age and education on cognitive function.
METHODS
The Cognitive Impairment Diagnosing Instrument(CIDI) was administered to the residents aged 70 years or more in Jookjang-Myun, Pohang City, Kyungpook.
RESULTS
Mean percent decline were different among the CIDI subtests: concentration/calculation showed the greatest deterioration, performances on abstract thinking, higher cortical functions, and orientation in time declined by 20.3 to 29.5%, and long-term memory, memory registration, judgement object naming, and orientation in place showed modest decline. Performances on all the CIDI subtests were significantly correlated with age with correlation coefficients between -0.262 and -0.477. All subtest, but for short-term memory, scores were shown to be affected by education. Men scored better than women on all the CIDI subtests except for short-term memory and memory registration.
CONCLUSION
All total and subtest performances of the CIDI were shown to be affected by sex, age, and education. However, memory registration and short-term memory revealed different pattern of decline according to the demographic factors.

Keyword

Aged; Cognition; Cognitive impairment diagnosing instrument; Memory

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Cognition
Demography
Education
Female
Gyeongsangbuk-do
Humans
Male
Memory
Memory, Long-Term
Memory, Short-Term
Rural Population*
Thinking