On issues pertinent to Alzheimer disease and cultural diversity.

Abstract

Issues that are important in defining the expression of Alzheimer disease in diverse patient groups are critiqued. Topics are partitioned into generic factors that apply to any patient and specific factors for diverse racial and ethnic populations. The range of issues discussed includes the need to better disseminate research data to properly educate primary care physicians about recent insights into the disorder. This critique also considers the need to determine actual diagnostic practices, the distribution of patients and dementia specialists, the lack of standard, valid neuropsychology test panels and the need to define how the disease expression is modified in diverse populations.