Racial and Gender Differences in the Association Between Living Arrangement
and Mild Cognitive Impairment 


   Note: An Official Proposal has not been Submitted to NACC.


   Lead Investigator:    Angela Gutierrez
   Institution      :    University of Southern California
   E-Mail           :    angelag4@usc.edu
   Proposal ID      :    1736



   Proposal Description:
   Latinxs have a greater risk of developing Alzheimer?#128#153s disease and related dementias (ADRD) than non-Hispanic Whites (Mayeda, Glymour, Quesenberry, Whitmer, 2016 Tang et al., 2001 Wu, Vega, Rosendez, Jin, 2016), experiencing dementia symptoms nearly seven years earlier than non-Hispanic Whites (Clark et al., 2005), and exhibiting higher levels of dementia-related behavioral symptoms (Salazar, Dwivedi, Royall, 2017). Given that Latinx adults comprise the largest minority group in the U.S (Bureau, 2017) and that older Latinxs will increase from 8 to 21 of the over 65 population by 2060 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018), identifying the mechanisms contributing to population-level disparities in healthy aging and cognitive functioning are public health priorities. Recent research suggests that living alone is associated with a higher risk of dementia than other modifiable risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity (Desai, 2020). Moreover, research has documented gender differences in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia (Beinhoff, 2008). To inform culturally-proficient and tailored interventions and health promotion efforts, it is critical to investigate how living arrangement shapes risk of MCI and whether these associations vary across gender and racial and ethnic groups. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the association between living arrangement and MCI among a sample of community-dwelling adults and to evaluate whether this relationship varies by gender and race. The aims of this study are to (1) evaluate the risk of MCI by living arrangement and (2) determine whether the relationship between living arrangement and MCI is conditional on gender and race and ethnicity. Given that mild cognitive deficits precede the clinical manifestations of dementia (Backman et al., 2011 Burns Zaudig, 2002 Palmer et al., 2003), findings from this study can inform early and culturally-proficient interventions aimed at promoting