US Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Dementia Life Expectancy, Risk/Protective Factors, and Caregiving Stressors

Saturday, November 5, 2022

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Location: 204 CC

CE: 1.5

Chair(s)

MA

Maria Aranda, PhD

Professor
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States

Slides

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

Marc Garcia, PhD

Assistant Professor
Sociology
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York, United States
Nasim B. Ferdows, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Health Administration and Policy
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Marianne Chanti-Ketterl, PhD, MSPH

Assistant Professor
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina, United States
Heehyul Moon, PhD

Associate professor
School of Social Work
University of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky, United States

The health, emotional, and economic impacts of dementia are far-reaching and impossible to fully calculate. Late-life dementia is not equitably distributed across population subgroups including older people and racial/ethnic minorities. Clear evidence underscores disparities in social/personal resources, environmental exposures, racism/discrimination, increased burden of caregiving, and uneven access to quality care especially for Blacks and Hispanics and caregivers. Each paper in this symposium addresses high-priority, disparity research areas highlighted in the recent NASEM Decadal Survey of Behavioral and Social Science Research on ADRD: characteristics of population groups that influence disease ascertainment and dementia life expectancy; quantification of mid- and late-life risk/protective factors; pesticide exposure and cognition, and caregiving stressors among racial/ethnic minorities. All presentations utilize nationally representative data on older people in the US. Garcia et al. utilize HRS data to create dementia life expectancy estimates using four competing algorithmic classifications of dementia status by race/ethnicity (Blacks, Whites), nativity status (US-, non-US-born Latinos), and gender. Applying the Lancet Commission Dementia Prevention framework to HRS data, Ferdows and Aranda examine risk/protective factors and quantify the relative contribution of individual variables in explaining racial/ethnic dementia disparities. Chanti-Ketterl et al. elucidate the association between organochlorines pesticides (total scores, specific type) and cognition based on NHANES data to ascertain racial/ethnic differences. Based on NHATS, Moon et al. explore differences in primary stressors by dementia care and race (Blacks, Whites) during COVID-19. Findings provide evidence of potential multi-level targets for interventions and public policies. All primary authors are early-career scholars dedicated to mitigating ADRD health disparities.

Learning Objectives:

To elucidate racial/ethnic disparities in dementia life expectancy estimates using four competing algorithmic classifications of dementia status by race/ethnicity, nativity status, and gender as well as lifespan risk and protective factors associated with dementia using nationally representative data sources.
To identify and quantify the mid- and later-life risk and protective factors of dementia, quantify the explained and unexplained racial/ethnic differences in risk and protective factors, as well as ascertain the impact of environmental pesticide exposures on cognition.
To understand the differences in caregiving stressors (changes in the provision of help with ADL and IADL tasks and emotional support) between dementia caregivers and non-dementia caregivers during COVID-19, and the role of race in the association between stressors and caregiver well-being.

Presentations:

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Dementia Life Expectancies: New Knowledge and Considerations from the Health and Retirement Study
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Marc A. Garcia, PhD – Syracuse University
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Risk and Protective Factors of Dementia: A Lifespan Approach
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Nasim B. Ferdows, PhD – Northeastern University
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Organochlorine Exposures and Cognitive Function in Older Life: The Role of Race/Ethnicity
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Marianne Chanti-Ketterl, PhD, MSPH – Duke University
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET

Impact of Caregiving During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison Between Dementia and Nondementia Caregivers by Race
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Heehyul Moon, PhD – University of Louisville