Moving Towards a More Comprehensive Investigation of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cognitive Disability Among US Adults

Emma K T Benn, Ashley Fox, Kezhen Fei, Eric Roberts, Bernadette Boden-Albala

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We examined racial/ethnic differences in cognitive disability and the contribution of sociodemographic factors to these differences. Using logistic regression, we measured the association between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability after adjustment for sociodemographic covariates, including agegroup, sex, education, nativity, region, marital status, and occupation among 2009 American Community Survey respondents (≥25 years). Effect modification was also explored. Cognitive disability was self-reported by 6 % of respondents. The proportion with cognitive disability was highest for Blacks and Native American/Pacific Islanders. Statistically significant effect modification was observed for all sociodemographic covariates, except sex. Although most sociodemographic modifiers revealed a more convoluted relationship between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability, the cognitive benefits of higher education, foreign born nativity, and top-tier occupations were observed among most racial/ethnic groups. The observed interplay between sociodemographics and race/ethnicity highlight a complex relationship between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability. Future research should examine mechanisms for this induced complexity.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1105-1113
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 23 2015

Keywords

  • Cognition
  • Disparities
  • Epidemiology
  • Nativity
  • Race/ethnicity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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