Non-amnestic initial symptoms may be less prevalent in African American than White participants with Alzheimer's and mixed Lewy body and Alzheimer's pathology.

INTRODUCTION

Knowing the relationship between initial clinical symptoms and rate of clinical decline by race is important in dementia care.

METHODS

A retrospective longitudinal cohort study of 2887 participants with autopsy confirmed AD pathology (ADP), and mixed ADP with Lewy body pathology (AD-LBP) in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database. Two-sample t-tests and Fisher's exact tests were used to evaluate outcomes.

RESULTS

African American participants (AAs) were less likely to have initial non-amnestic symptoms than White participants (6.5% vs 23% p < 0.001). AAs showed a faster rate of clinical decline on the Clinical Dementia Rating-Sum of Boxes than Whites in the amnestic group (0.30 points per year, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04 to 0.55; p = 0.023). When accounting for biological and social-medical factors, the difference between the races were not significant (0.16, 95% CI: -0.10 to 0.42; p = 0.22).

DISCUSSION

Larger diverse cohorts are necessary to robustly evaluate interaction between race and clinical factors in determining dementia outcomes.

HIGHLIGHTS

African American participants were less likely to have initial non-amnestic symptoms than White participants with Alzheimer's disease and mixed Alzheimer's and Lewy body neuropathology. African American participants with initial amnestic symptoms in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center cohort also experienced a faster rate of cognitive and functional decline. Interaction between race, clinical symptoms, and neuropathology in diverse populations is an important consideration in clinical trial design.