Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Alzheimer's disease Center.
Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 2019 Jul-Sep;33(3):254-259. doi: 10.1097/WAD.0000000000000314.
Heightened Alzheimer disease (AD) risk among African Americans represents a racial disparity in aging. This study examines perceptions of AD risk factors among nondemented older African Americans.
Participants indicated how important nine factors were in increasing one's AD risk using a Likert-type scale with endpoints 1=not at all important to 4=extremely important. We examined perceptions of AD risk factors as a function of age, education, gender, and global cognition using separate logistic regression models.
Participants were from The Minority Aging Research Study (N=610) with a mean age of 74.5 years, a mean education of 14.9 years, and 24% were men.
Of the AD risk factors, predictors were significantly related to genetics and God's Will. Younger participants (est.=-0.06, P=0.02) and those with more education (est.=0.14, P=0.02) were more likely to report genetics as extremely important. Participants with more education were less likely to indicate God's Will as extremely important (est.=-0.14, P<0.0005).
Among older African Americans, age and education were important characteristics for the perception of AD risk factors. Findings can facilitate designing effective, culturally competent educational tools for meaningful engagement with older African Americans about AD.
非裔美国人阿尔茨海默病（AD）风险增加是衰老过程中的种族差异。本研究旨在探讨认知正常的老年非裔美国人对 AD 风险因素的认知。
参与者使用李克特量表（1=一点也不重要，4=非常重要）来评估九个因素对 AD 风险的重要程度。我们使用单独的逻辑回归模型，分别根据年龄、教育程度、性别和整体认知来检查对 AD 风险因素的认知。
参与者来自少数族裔衰老研究（N=610），平均年龄为 74.5 岁，平均教育程度为 14.9 年，24%为男性。
在 AD 风险因素中，有预测作用的因素与遗传和天意显著相关。年轻的参与者（估计值=-0.06，P=0.02）和受教育程度较高的参与者（估计值=0.14，P=0.02）更有可能将遗传因素视为非常重要。受教育程度较高的参与者不太可能将天意视为非常重要（估计值=-0.14，P<0.0005）。
在老年非裔美国人中，年龄和教育程度是他们对 AD 风险因素认知的重要特征。这些发现可以为设计有效的、具有文化适应性的教育工具提供帮助，以便与老年非裔美国人就 AD 进行有意义的互动。
