title: A longitudinal analysis of the influence of race on cognitive performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Whether there are racial and ethnic disparities in the rate of cognitive decline among older adults is not clear. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in cognitive decline among racial and ethnic older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were from the Health and Retirement Study, waves 1998-2010. Participants were community dwelling at baseline (n = 9,492), mostly female participants (58.8%), ranged in age from 65 to 105 years (M = 74.41, SD = 6.97), and had education levels that averaged less than high school (M = 11.7, SD = 3.4). Cognition was examined using a combined score from word recall, Serial 7's, backward counting, and naming tasks. To determine changes in cognition across 12 years, we utilized mixed effects models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that after adjusting for covariates, race or ethnicity was unrelated to changes in cognitive performance, but there were significant differences in baseline cognition and these differences were more pronounced after adjusting for age, gender, education, poverty, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is evident that there are significant differences in baseline cognition, although the rate of cognitive decline across 12 years did not vary significantly by race. These findings support previous assertions that the rate of cognitive decline is not associated with race and suggest that it is likely that baseline cognitive performance is a better indicator of performance over time.
authors.affiliation: School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa. mcastora@mail.usf.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castora-Binkley
authors.affiliation: School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa.
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Peronto
authors.affiliation: School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa.
authors.forename: Jerri D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa.
authors.forename: Brent J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Small
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000208:ethnology*; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Cognitive decline; Health and Retirement Study; Racial disparities