Washington, August 03 : A new RAND Corporation study has suggested that older women who live in a lower socio-economic status neighbourhood are more likely to exhibit lower cognitive functioning than women who live in more affluent neighbourhoods.

The study is the largest of its type to examine whether living in a poor neighbourhood is associated with lower cognitive function.

The study found that potential confounders such as vascular health, health behaviours and psychosocial factors such as depressive symptoms explained only a portion of the relationship between neighbourhood socio-economic status and cognitive function.

"This study provides the best evidence yet that living in a neighbourhood with lower socio-economic standing can have an impact on women''s cognitive abilities in late life," said Regina A. Shih, the study''s lead author and a behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

"More work is needed to find out whether living in a lower socioeconomic status neighborhood influences cognitive decline that may affect a woman''s risk of developing dementia, and to consider ways to intervene," added Shih.

The study has been detailed in published online by the American Journal of Public Health. (ANI)