Table 1 Participants’ characteristics.

From: Education in early life markedly reduces the probability of cognitive impairment in later life in Colombia

Variable

Main analysis (n = 16,505)

Sensitivity analysis (n = 20,174)

Shorter MMSE score (mean ± SD)

16.6 ± 1.9

15.4 ± 3.5

Age, years (mean ± SD)

68.9 ± 6.9

70.0 ± 7.7

Male, %

45.27

44.18

Height, cm (mean ± SD)

Quintile 1

144.92 ± 2.61

144.76 ± 2.7

Quintile 2

151.08 ± 1.40

151.04 ± 1.40

Quintile 3

155.94 ± 1.41

155.95 ± 1.41

Quintile 4

161.96 ± 2.0

161.93 ± 2.0

Quintile 5

170.23 ± 3.75

170.26 ± 3.78

Education, %

None

15.79

20.91

Some primary

59.02

57.47

Some secondary or more

25.19

21.63

Economic situation of family during childhood, %

Bad

16.85

-

Normal

42.42

-

Good

40.73

-

Self-rated health during childhood, %

Bad

1.45

-

Normal

8.85

-

Good

89.7

-

Current income, %

None

14.16

15.33

Less than minimum wage

55.64

57.60

Minimum wage

15.07

13.82

More than 1 to 2 times minimum wage

9.50

8.44

More than 2 to 3 times minimum wage

2.99

2.57

More than 3 to 4 times minimum wage

1.45

1.23

More than 4 times minimum wage

1.19

1.00

Civil status, %

Not married or with partner

42.40

45.07

Married or with partner

57.60

54.93

Cigarette smoking, %

Never smoker

47.39

47.40

Current or ex-smoker

52.61

52.60

Alcohol drinking, %

Non-drinker

85.82

87.26

Drinker

14.18

12.74

Self-rated nutritional status, %

Serious malnutrition

1.99

-

Moderate malnutrition

25.73

-

Good nutrition

72.28

-

Physically active, %

No

40.34

44.36

Yes

59.66

55.64

  1. Cognitive impairment was defined as the lowest tertile of the shorter version of the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in the main analysis and as a score of 12 or less out of 19 in the sensitivity analysis. Economic situation of family during childhood, self-rated health during childhood, and self-rated nutritional status could not be included in the sensitivity analysis because the proxy interviewee was not asked about these variables.