Contextualizing the Effects of Stress on Cognitive Health in U.S. Latinos
Presentation in a Themed Panel Elizabeth Muñoz
Hispanics/Latinos in the United States will experience the largest increase in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias by 2060 and they currently have a 1.5 greater risk for ADRD compared to non-Latino White adults. Therefore, efforts to identify risk and protective factors for reduced cognitive health are crucial. Stress is an important risk factor for poor cognitive health, but the conditions under which stress operates among Hispanic/Latino adults is poorly understood. Latinos in the United States experience greater social, environmental, and economic disadvantage that may heighten psychosocial stress thus increasing vulnerability for poor cognitive health outcomes. Despite greater exposure to relevant risk factors, not all studies find associations with cognitive functioning suggesting the presence of other risks or protective factors. This presentation will highlight the need to study sources of stress across multiple levels of analyses, including neighborhood environments and interpersonal interactions, along with the timing and duration of these experiences. Theoretical and empirical work linking environmental and interpersonal stressors to cognitive health outcomes in Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States will be discussed. In addition, the role that sociocultural processes may play in shaping resilience against the adverse effects of these sources of stress will be presented. A discussion on the implications for research and practice will conclude this presentation.
Brain Health Index as a Predictor of Possible Vascular Cognitive Impairment in the Mexican Health and Aging Study 2012-2015 (Online Only) View Digital Media
Presentation in a Themed Panel Sara Aguilar-Navarro
Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia. Brain health is defined as the capacity to function adaptively in the environment and its partially determined by cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), which are a potential target for the prevention of all cause dementia. In this study, we aim to establish the association and risk of developing possible vascular cognitive impairment (pVCI) by using a brain health index (BHI). After adjusting for covariables, the BHI score was associated with a nearly 2-fold increased risk of developing pVCI in the 3-year follow-up. This index could potentially be used to identify pVCI predictive risk in adults with modifiable CVRF. Further studies should be carried out in other populations and with longer follow-ups.
Assessing Biological Aging in Adult Populations
Presentation in a Themed Panel Hiram Beltran-Sanchez
Differences in health status at older ages are a result of genetic predispositions and physiological responses to exposure accumulation over the lifespan. Chronological age is a standard indicator that reflects overall risks of morbidity and mortality, but it a crude proxy for individuals’ latent physiological deterioration. Biological age (CA) is an alternative indicator of accumulated age-related biological change reflected in markers of major physiological systems. In this presentation we estimate BA using data from the US to assess differences in accumulated age-related biological change among older adults by sex, education, and race/ethnicity. Results suggest that physiological deterioration proceeds more rapidly among females, lower education individuals, and Hispanics and non-Hispanics Blacks.
Neighborhood Physical Disorder and Aging in South Texas View Digital Media
Presentation in a Themed Panel Gladys Maestre
We read our environment through our embodiment. The way we age tell stories about-and cannot be studied divorced from the conditions of how we live and where we reside throughout our lives. The neighborhood is important for the mental and physical well-being of residents. Neighborhood physical disorder refers to the disorganized existence of the physical environment and tends to be higher in areas where poverty and immigrant populations are concentrated. The South Texas/Mexico border region of the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is the poorest area of Texas and one of the poorest in the US, hosting a population of more than 1.3 million people, of which more than 93% are Hispanics. Visualization of the spatial distribution of neighborhood physical disorder may facilitate and support research efforts to understand vulnerabilities and resiliency in the population. Twelve trained raters used the Computer Assisted Neighborhood Visual Assessment System (CANVAS), an online application that facilitates virtual audits using Google Street View, to collect eight indicators of physical disorder of 723 block faces in seven metropolitan areas of the LRGV, namely the cities of Harlingen, Brownsville, Raymondville, Rio Grande City, Edinburg, McAllen, and Mission and their surrounding areas. The eight-block face indicators were composed of a Neighborhood Disorder index. Ordinary kriging, a geospatial statistical analysis, was used to interpolate estimates of disorder levels through the study cities in the Valley. The Neighborhood Disorder Map in LRGV depicts a visualization of the spatial distribution of physical disorder in the study’s cities throughout the Valley. Besides supporting research efforts in aging and dementia, a better understanding of neighborhood physical disorder may aid public officials and community members in understanding environmental inequality and help to prioritize efforts for social improvement. Research reported in this presentation was supported by the National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number 1DP1AG069870.
