A comparison of correlates of cognitive functioning in older persons in Taiwan and the United States.

OBJECTIVES This article compares patterns of association between cognitive functioning and a number of sociodemographic and health correlates among older persons in Taiwan and the United States. METHODS The study uses data from the 1993 Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan and the 1993 Study of Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old in the United States. Separate multivariate regression models are employed for each country to examine the effects of sociodemographic and health factors on cognitive functioning, and to examine the marginal impact of cognitive functioning on activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) functioning. RESULTS Results of the multivariate analyses show similar patterns of association across the two countries and replicate findings from previous studies. Increasing age, female gender, lower education, depression, and selected health conditions are associated with lower cognitive functioning. In addition, although a significant predictor of both ADL and IADL impairments, cognitive functioning is more powerful with respect to explaining IADL impairments. DISCUSSION Study findings suggest that the cognitive measures are capturing similar dimensions in Taiwan and the United States, and that factors associated with cognitive functioning and its consequences with respect to physical functioning are similar in the two countries.