Dementia affects older individuals in America to varying degrees.
Dementia is becoming more prevalent among the elderly in the United States, according to the first nationally representative study of cognitive impairment in more than 20 years. According to a study published on Monday The Journal of the American Medical AssociationDementia affects one in every ten Americans 65 and older, with rates much higher for black and Hispanic people.
Taking into account factors such as age, education, ethnicity, gender and race, the research was able to calculate the prevalence of dementia and moderate cognitive impairment.
Another 22% of participants in the study, which was conducted by academics from the University of Michigan and Columbia University, had mild cognitive impairment.
According to CNN, the results showed older adults who identified as Black or African American were more likely to have dementia, while those who identified as Hispanic were more likely to suffer from mild cognitive impairment. Those who had less high school education were more likely to have both conditions.
“Dementia research in general has focused largely on college-educated people who have been racialized as whites,” lead study author Dr. Jennifer Manly said in a statement.
Columbia University’s Gertrude H. Dr. Manly, a neuropsychology professor at the Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain, continued, “This study is representative of a population of older adults and includes groups that have historically been excluded from dementia research. but are at higher risk of developing cognitive impairment due to structural racism and income inequality.