Self-reported Experiences of Discrimination and Incident Dementia

Overview

Journal Alzheimers Dement

Specialties Neurology
Psychiatry

Date 2023 Feb 1

PMID 36724324

Authors

Michael P Bancks

Goldie S Byrd

Allison Caban-Holt

Annette L Fitzpatrick

Sarah N Forrester

Kathleen M Hayden

Susan R Heckbert

Kiarri N Kershaw

Stephen R Rapp

Bonnie C Sachs

Timothy M Hughes

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Discrimination negatively impacts health and may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in dementia risk.

Methods: Experiences of lifetime and everyday discrimination were assessed among 6509 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants. We assessed the association of discrimination with incidence of dementia including adjustment for important risk factors, cohort attrition, and we assessed for effect modification by race/ethnicity.

Results: Prevalence of any lifetime discrimination in MESA was 42%, highest among Black adults (72%). Over a median 15.7 years of follow-up, there were 466 incident cases of dementia. Lifetime discrimination, but not everyday discrimination, was associated with incident dementia (Wald p = 0.03). Individuals reporting lifetime discrimination in ≥2 domains (compared to none) had greater risk for dementia (hazard ratio: 1.40; 95%: 1.08, 1.82) after adjustment for sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral risk factors. Associations did not differ by race/ethnicity.

Conclusions: These findings demonstrate an association of greater experiences of lifetime discrimination with incident dementia.

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