Reading Comprehension Abilities in the Anglophone Aging Population with Post-Secondary Education

Abstract

Literacy skills such as reading comprehension are essential in order to understand written information and complete daily tasks. Low literacy skills are common in the aging population thus affecting quality of life, independence and social integration. Reading comprehension is a complex activity that requires processing at many different levels. According to Kintsch’s construction-integration model, three levels of representations of a text must be achieved in order to fully comprehend a text. Previous studies often considered the aging population as a single group and compared this group to young adults. However, few studies examined the variability in reading comprehension abilities within the aging population. Studies examining the variability in the construction of a situation model in older adults are even more scarce. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of age on reading comprehension abilities at the surface model, text-based model and situation model in the aging population with high education level. Participants were recruited in northern Ontario and were grouped into three age intervals (60-69 years; 70-79 years; ≥ 80 years). Participants’ cognitive functions were assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and health literacy was assessed using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOFHLA). Reading comprehension abilities were evaluated using the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - third edition (WRMT-III) as well as the Gray Oral Reading Test – fifth edition (GORT5). Results indicated no significant differences in performance of reading comprehension abilities among the three age groups at the surface level, text-based level, and situation model level of reading comprehension. These findings suggest no age-related effect on reading comprehension abilities in adults with high levels of education. The lack of differences observed may be explained by the absence of differences in cognitive functions between the three age groups as well as the high level of education which may have acted as a protective factor. Future studies should examine reading comprehension in Anglophone adults with lower levels of education to better understand whether education is a protective factor against a decline in reading comprehension abilities in the aging population.