IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/geronb/v77y2022i2p261-271..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Cognitive Health in Ethnically Diverse Older Adults
[Version 3 of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s Uniform Data Set]

Author

Listed:
  • Hector Hernandez Saucedo
  • Rachel A Whitmer
  • Maria Glymour
  • Charles DeCarli
  • Elizabeth-Rose Mayeda
  • Paola Gilsanz
  • Sunita Q Miles
  • Nihal Bhulani
  • Sarah Tomaszewski Farias
  • John Olichney
  • Dan Mungas

Abstract

ObjectivesUnderstanding racial/ethnic disparities in late-life cognitive health is a public health imperative. We used baseline data from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study to examine how age, education, gender, and clinical diagnosis, a proxy for brain health, are associated with cross-sectional measures of cognition in diverse racial/ethnic groups.MethodsComprehensive measures of cognition were obtained using the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales and the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognitive Health Battery in a sample of 1,695 KHANDLE participants (Asians 24%, Blacks 26%, Latinos 20%, Whites 29%). A 25% random subsample was clinically evaluated and diagnosed with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or dementia. Cognitive test scores were regressed on core demographic variables and diagnosis in the combined sample and in multiple group analyses stratified by racial/ethnic group.ResultsRace/ethnicity and education were variably associated with test scores with strongest associations with tests of vocabulary and semantic memory. Older age was associated with poorer performance on all measures, and gender differences varied across cognitive tests. Clinical diagnosis of MCI or dementia was associated with average decrements in test scores that ranged from −0.41 to −0.84 SD, with largest differences on tests of executive function and episodic memory. With few exceptions, associations of demographic variables and clinical diagnosis did not differ across racial/ethnic groups.DiscussionThe robust associations of cognitive test results with clinical diagnosis independent of core demographic variables and race/ethnicity support the validity of cognitive tests as indicators for brain health in diverse older adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Hector Hernandez Saucedo & Rachel A Whitmer & Maria Glymour & Charles DeCarli & Elizabeth-Rose Mayeda & Paola Gilsanz & Sunita Q Miles & Nihal Bhulani & Sarah Tomaszewski Farias & John Olichney & Dan , 2022. "Measuring Cognitive Health in Ethnically Diverse Older Adults [Version 3 of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s Uniform Data Set]," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 77(2), pages 261-271.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:77:y:2022:i:2:p:261-271.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbab062
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shannon Sisco & Alden L. Gross & Regina A. Shih & Bonnie C. Sachs & M. Maria Glymour & Katherine J. Bangen & Andreana Benitez & Jeannine Skinner & Brooke C. Schneider & Jennifer J. Manly, 2015. "The Role of Early-Life Educational Quality and Literacy in Explaining Racial Disparities in Cognition in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(4), pages 557-567.
    2. Melissa Castora-Binkley & Carol L. Peronto & Jerri D. Edwards & Brent J. Small, 2015. "A Longitudinal Analysis of the Influence of Race on Cognitive Performance," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(4), pages 512-518.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Katrina M Walsemann & Stephanie Ureña & Mateo P Farina & Jennifer A Ailshire, 2022. "Race Inequity in School Attendance Across the Jim Crow South and Its Implications for Black–White Disparities in Trajectories of Cognitive Function Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 77(8), pages 1467-1477.
    2. Allan K. Nkwata & Ming Zhang & Xiao Song & Bruno Giordani & Amara E. Ezeamama, 2022. "Toxic Psychosocial Stress, Resiliency Resources and Time to Dementia Diagnosis in a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Americans in the Health and Retirement Study from 2006–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-18, February.
    3. McDonough, Ian M. & Byrd, DeAnnah R. & Choi, Shinae L., 2023. "Resilience resources may buffer some middle-aged and older Black Americans from memory decline despite experiencing discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    4. Qian Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park & Youngki Shin, 2020. "Returns to Skill and the Evolution of Skills for Older Men," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 20205, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    5. Liu, Chelsea & Murchland, Audrey R. & VanderWeele, Tyler J. & Blacker, Deborah, 2022. "Eliminating racial disparities in dementia risk by equalizing education quality: A sensitivity analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    6. Christopher C Stewart & Patricia A Boyle & Bryan D James & Lei Yu & S Duke Han & David A Bennett, 2018. "Associations of APOE ε4 With Health and Financial Literacy Among Community-Based Older Adults Without Dementia," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(5), pages 778-786.
    7. McCluney, Courtney L. & Schmitz, Lauren L. & Hicken, Margaret T. & Sonnega, Amanda, 2018. "Structural racism in the workplace: Does perception matter for health inequalities?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 106-114.
    8. Glei, Dana A. & Lee, Chioun & Weinstein, Maxine, 2022. "Income, wealth, and Black-White disparities in cognition," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    9. Marc A. Garcia & Joseph Saenz & Brian Downer & Rebeca Wong, 2018. "The role of education in the association between race/ethnicity/nativity, cognitive impairment, and dementia among older adults in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(6), pages 155-168.
    10. Kobayashi, Lindsay C. & Glymour, M. Maria & Kahn, Kathleen & Payne, Collin F. & Wagner, Ryan G. & Montana, Livia & Mateen, Farrah J. & Tollman, Stephen M. & Berkman, Lisa F., 2017. "Childhood deprivation and later-life cognitive function in a population-based study of older rural South Africans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 20-28.
    11. Walsemann, Katrina M. & Hair, Nicole L. & Farina, Mateo P. & Tyagi, Pallavi & Jackson, Heide & Ailshire, Jennifer A., 2023. "State-level desegregation in the U.S. South and mid-life cognitive function among Black and White adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    12. Piotr Sorokowski & Agnieszka Sorokowska & Tomasz Frackowiak & Corinna E. Löckenhoff, 2017. "Aging Perceptions in Tsimane’ Amazonian Forager–Farmers Compared With Two Industrialized Societies," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(4), pages 561-570.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:77:y:2022:i:2:p:261-271.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.