P1‐523: DOES SOCIAL PARTICIPATION PREDICT THE TRAJECTORY OF COGNITIVE DECLINE IN ADULT AFRICAN AMERICANS?

Abstract

Alzheimer's dementia is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive and functional decline. There are no effective treatments. Current research efforts are aimed at disease prevention targeting modifiable risk factors. Social engagement is a modifiable factor that has shown numerous benefits for older adults, including those at risk for dementia (James et al., 2011; Dodge et al., 2015; Tomioka et al., 2016). Increased social activity promotes self-care and decreases the rate of long-term care facility placement (Bath & Gardiner, 2005; Miller et al., 2014). In this context, we examined how baseline social participation affects the change in cognitive scores over time in a population of non-demented adult African Americans. The African American Dementia and Aging Project (AADAPt) is a longitudinal prospective cohort study in Portland, Oregon recruited through the NIA-Layton Aging & Alzheimer's Disease Center. Standardized examinations and self-reported surveys were completed in 123 subjects. Baseline social participation (SP) was defined as the aggregate measurement of 18 variables (e.g. attend a club or group meeting) ranked from 0 (rarely/never engaged in activities) to 4 (daily engagement). We conducted a series of longitudinal mixed-effect models (adjusted for age, sex, and education) to examine the relationship between SP and dependent variables using IBM SPSS Statistical Viewer v24. Dependent variables were the subject's change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), delayed recall, and animal fluency scores over time. Data was available for 123 subjects (mean age= 73.6 years, 76% female). The average follow up was 7.8 years and mean SP was 37.3 (R: 10 – 57). Although higher SP was associated with better performance in language-based executive function, none of the SP*time interactions were significant, suggesting that baseline SP does not modify cognitive decline.