ArticleInternational journal of epidemiology2026
Cognitive aging across the life course in a low-income context: evidence from Malawi.
Article in International journal of epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWe investigated heterogeneity in cognitive aging trajectories in rural Malawi-a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa in which the current understanding of cognitive aging is limited.
methodsWe used longitudinal data on 1214 adults aged ≥45 years from the Mature Adults Cohort of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health from 2012 to 2022 and employed latent-class trajectory models to identify distinct trajectories of cognition. We estimated associations between sociodemographic variables and group membership probabilities by using fractional multinomial logit regression models.
resultsThree cognitive trajectory groups were identified: 36% of the respondents belonged to the "high" cognition group characterized by a stable relative decline in cognition over time, 46% belonged to the "medium" cognition group experiencing intermediate relative decline by age 80 years, and 18% of respondents belonged to the "low" cognition group experiencing the largest relative decline in cognition by age 80 years. Individuals on higher cognition trajectories were more likely to be men, have completed a primary or secondary level of schooling, be living in a house with a metal roof, and have been born in younger cohorts.
conclusionHeterogeneity exists in cognitive aging trajectories in Malawi-while some individuals experience healthy cognitive aging, a nontrivial subgroup also experience accelerated cognitive decline over the life course. The results provide guidance for policymakers and practitioners in developing targeted programs to prevent or reduce the burden of cognitive decline among high-risk groups and seek to enhance healthy cognitive aging among older adults in Malawi, where resources for treatment and care are limited.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.