The Role of Race/Ethnicity and Psychiatric History in the Transition to
Dementia: Findings from the NACC 
   Lead Investigator:    Maria Aranda
   Institution      :    University of Southern California
   E-Mail           :    aranda@usc.edu
   Proposal ID      :    1381



   Proposal Description:
   1. Based on the national NACC data, out goal is to identify the predictors of transition to dementia in a diverse racial and ethnic population of ADC/ADRC participants. Ascertaining the relative effect of possible dementia risk factors, particularly among older racial and ethnic minorities is an important public health goal. We are also interested in ascertaining if previous and/or current psychiatric history play a direct and/or moderating/modulating effect on dementia transition given the high rates of psychiatric disorders reported for older minorities.                                                               2) We intend to answer the following research questions:   a. Do non-Latino Whites, Latino, African-American, and other racial/ethnic groups differ in terms of the predictors of dementia transiton, i.e, from normal to dementia, or MCI to dementia, across several waves of data (controlling for clinical factors and other demographics?    b.  Does psychiatric history (previous, or current) predict dementia transition directly, and moderate or mediate the relationship between psychiatric history and dementia transition (controlling for clinical factors  and other demographics?