Interaction effects of education and health status on cognitive change: A 6-year follow-up of the Maastricht Aging Study

Objectives: The aim of this study was to test for interactions between education and health status (i.e., physical, social, and psychological functioning) with respect to baseline cognitive performance and change over 6 years. Method: Longitudinal data from the Maastricht Aging Study of 1344 men and women aged 24-47 and 49-77 were used. Results: Education by health interactions were restricted to the younger group. The components of health status that most consistently interacted with education were physical functioning on cognitive performance at baseline and physical and psychological functioning on cognitive change. Conclusion: These results indicate that high education attenuates age-related decline and lower baseline performance incurred by low health status in persons younger than 50