Abstract:

Literacy skills have been used in some studies as a proxy for premorbid intelligence because they are considered relatively resistant to normal aging. This study aims to explore whether there are signs of decline with aging in literacy skills among Chinese adults with average lower levels of education than their Western peers. Drawing on data from a nationally representative survey, the study uses two repeated literacy tests administered at four-year intervals to investigate at what age literacy skills begin to decline and the effects of possible risk factors. On average, literacy skills have been shown to decline at age 45 and above among Chinese adults. While gender, education, marital status, income, urban status, and subjective cognitive impairment were all associated with the level of literacy skills at baseline, only gender and education were predictive of change over time. Females declined at a slower rate, and the decline appeared to be statistically significant only for those with low education levels. The use of literacy skills as an indicator of premorbid intelligence may need to be reconsidered for the poorly educated. These findings highlight the greater burden of cognitive aging in China due to average low education levels.

Key words: Cognitive decline, attrition bias, subjective cognitive impairment, population aging