Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, Fairway, KS, USA.
National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Jun;34(6):828-835. doi: 10.1002/gps.5092. Epub 2019 Apr 22.
Sexual minority discrimination might lead to a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of MCI and dementia between older adults in same-sex relationships (SSR) and opposite-sex relationships (OSR).
We analyzed longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center up to September 2017. Analyses included cognitively normal individuals 55+ at baseline who had a spouse, partner, or companion as study partner at any assessment. Associations were calculated using survival analysis adjusting for demographics and APOE-e4 carrier status.
Hazard ratios of MCI and dementia did not differ statistically between SSR and OSR individuals in the total sample nor stratified by sex.
The lack of association between SSR and MCI and dementia warrants future research into their potential resilience mechanisms and the inclusion of sexual minority status questions in research and surveillance studies. The potential recruitment bias caused by nonprobabilistic sampling of the cohort and the reporting and ascertainment bias caused by using SSR to infer sexual minority status may have influenced our findings.
性少数群体歧视可能会增加轻度认知障碍（MCI）和痴呆症的风险。本研究旨在评估处于同性关系（SSR）和异性关系（OSR）中的老年人发生 MCI 和痴呆症的风险。
我们分析了截至 2017 年 9 月国家阿尔茨海默病协调中心的纵向数据。分析包括基线时年龄在 55 岁及以上、在任何评估中有配偶、伴侣或同伴作为研究伙伴的认知正常个体。使用生存分析，根据人口统计学和 APOE-e4 携带状态调整关联。
在总样本中，以及按性别分层后，SSR 和 OSR 个体之间 MCI 和痴呆症的风险比没有统计学差异。
SSR 与 MCI 和痴呆症之间缺乏关联，需要进一步研究其潜在的适应机制，并在研究和监测研究中纳入性少数群体状况问题。由于对队列进行非概率抽样以及由于使用 SSR 来推断性少数群体状况而导致的报告和确定偏差，可能会影响我们的发现。
