title: Moving Towards a More Comprehensive Investigation of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cognitive Disability Among US Adults.
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.
authors.affiliation: Center for Biostatistics, Department of Health Evidence and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1077, New York, NY, 10029, USA, emma.benn@mountsinai.org.
authors.forename: Emma K T
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Benn
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: Kezhen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boden-Albala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data