US RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN DEMENTIA LIFE EXPECTANCY, RISK/PROTECTIVE FACTORS, AND CAREGIVING STRESSORS

Abstract

Abstract 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.