O5‐08‐01: Trends in Racial and Ethnic Differences in Dementia Prevalence Rates and Disease Awareness
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: US Medicare claims data suggest that prevalence rates of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are 30% higher among non-Hispanic Blacks and 14% higher among Hispanics than among non-Hispanic Whites. However, claims-based estimates may understate racial and ethnic differences in dementia prevalence due to diagnosis disparities. This study used a modeling approach with survey data to estimate dementia prevalence rates by race/ethnicity and changes over time. Using survey responses to the Health and Retirement Study, we identified individuals age ≥70 with dementia based on a prediction model developed by Hurd and colleagues. The ordered probit model predicts cognitive status separately for self- and proxy-respondents as either ‘dementia’, ‘cognitive impairment no dementia’, or ‘normal’ based on age, gender, education, functional limitations, and imputed cognitive scores. We analyzed predicted dementia prevalence rates by race/ethnicity in years 2000-2014. Among individuals identified as having dementia, we examined trends in awareness of one's dementia status (i.e., whether they recalled receiving an AD/memory problem/dementia diagnosis from their doctor) by race/ethnicity. All analyses adjusted for sampling weights. Predicted dementia prevalence was highest among non-Hispanic Blacks (Range 2000-2014: 18.7%-21.4%), followed by Hispanics (14.9%-19.7%) and non-Hispanic Whites (10.2%-11.7%). Dementia prevalence decreased steadily between 2000-2014, especially among non-Hispanic Blacks (from 21.4% to 18.7%). Among those predicted as having dementia, 39%-47% reported they were informed of the dementia status by their doctor. Knowledge about one's dementia status was poorer among Hispanics (30.5%-45.5%) and non-Hispanic Blacks (35.4%-47.7%) than among non-Hispanic Whites (39.4%-48.1%). Among subjects identified as having dementia, self-respondents were less aware of their disease status than proxy-respondents.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2980467856