Effects of Occupational Complexity on the Trajectories of Cognitive Functioning Change in Aging Population in China

• In Event: 4266 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: 3. Cognitive and Mental Health

Abstract

The theory of cognitive reserve(CR), asserts that older adults with higher CR are able to tolerate higher levels of pathology before displaying clinical cognitive dysfunction by mobilize greater experiential resources. Past studies suggest that lifelong experiences, including education and occupation, and leisure activities in later life, can increase cognitive reserve. On contrast to education and daily activities, the influence of occupation has been almost neglected. By analysis the sample aged 60 and above population from the 3-waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS), this paper finds that occupational complexity indeed plays a significant role in determining one's performance in cognitive function in their late life. Higher occupation complexity lead to lower risk of CI in one’s later life. Moreover, at macro level, through shaping the overall trend of CI prevalence in population, occupational structure also associates with health inequality issues in a profound way.

Authors

• Xi Ni, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Hanna Lu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China/Guangzhou Brain Hospital