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. 2013 Oct 16;8(10):e78268.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078268. eCollection 2013.

Cognitive ability in late adolescence and disability pension in middle age: follow-up of a national cohort of Swedish males

Alma Sörberg  1 , Andreas Lundin, Peter Allebeck, Bo Melin, Daniel Falkstedt, Tomas Hemmingsson
Affiliations

Cognitive ability in late adolescence and disability pension in middle age: follow-up of a national cohort of Swedish males

Alma Sörberg et al. PLoS One. .

Erratum in

  • PLoS One. 2014;9(7):e103291

Abstract

Low cognitive ability in late adolescence has previously been shown to be associated with disability pension (DP) in young adulthood. However, most DP's are granted later in working life, and the mechanisms of the association are not fully understood. We aimed to investigate the association between cognitive ability in late adolescence and DP at ages 40-59, and investigate the role of individual and socioeconomic factors. Information on cognitive ability, health status, personality aspects and health behaviours at age 18-20 was obtained from the 1969-70 conscription cohort, comprising 49,321 Swedish men. Data on DP's 1991-2008 was obtained from the Longitudinal Database of Education, Income and Employment. Information on socioeconomic and work-related factors in childhood and adulthood was obtained from national sociodemographic databases. Hazard ratios for DP during follow-up were estimated by Cox proportional hazards models. We found a graded relationship between cognitive ability in late adolescence and DP in middle age. One step decrease on the nine-point stanine scale of cognitive ability was associated with a crude hazard ratio of 1.26 (95% CI 1.24-1.27). Socioeconomic and work-related circumstances in adulthood explained much of the association, but factors measured already in late adolescence also showed importance. The findings suggest an accumulation of risks over the life course. Although attenuated, the graded relationship remained after adjusting for all factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Disability pension 1991-2008 by cognitive ability.
Number of men receiving a first award of disability pension 1991-2008, and among them the proportions of men obtaining cognitive ability scores 1-4 and 5-9 on the stanine scale. In the full cohort, 33% scored 1-4 on the cognitive ability test.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Association between cognitive ability and disability pension.
Relative risks (hazard ratios, HR’s, with 95% confidence intervals) of the granting of disability pension 1991-2008 by cognitive ability score at conscription on a stanine scale, in crude (unadjusted) and fully adjusted models, with a cognitive ability score of five as reference. Adjustments are made for childhood socioeconomic position, personality aspects, health-related lifestyle factors (smoking, risky use of alcohol, BMI score), psychiatric and musculoskeletal diagnoses, unemployment, education, attained socioeconomic position, and income.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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