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. 2024 Jun;28(2):499-513.
doi: 10.1177/17446295231169379. Epub 2023 Apr 11.

Does Employment Complexity Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging in Down Syndrome?

Brianna Piro-Gambetti  1   2 , Emily K Schworer  1   2 , Benjamin Handen  3 , Masha Glukhovskaya  3 , Sigan L Hartley  1   2
Affiliations

Does Employment Complexity Promote Healthy Cognitive Aging in Down Syndrome?

Brianna Piro-Gambetti et al. J Intellect Disabil. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Adults with Down syndrome (DS) experience high risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but there is variability in the timing of transition from a cognitively stable state to prodromal AD and dementia. The present study examined the association between a modifiable lifestyle factor, employment complexity, and cognitive decline across two time points in adults with DS. Employment complexity, defined as the degree of problem-solving or critical thinking required for employment activities, was operationalized using the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, a system which classifies occupations based on three categories: Data, People, and Things. Eighty-seven adults with DS (M = 36.28 years, SD = 6.90 years) were included in analyses. Partial correlations revealed that lower employment complexity involving People and Things were associated with increased dementia symptoms. Lower employment complexity involving Things was also associated with memory decline. These findings have implications for vocational programs focused on job training and placement for adults with DS.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cognition; dementia; down syndrome; employment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Distribution of employment complexity scores in Data (1a), People (1b), and Things (1c). Lower score indicates higher complexity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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