Deconstructing Racial Differences: The Effects of Quality of Education and Cerebrovascular Risk Factors
Deconstructing Racial Differences: The Effects of Quality of Education and Cerebrovascular Risk Factors
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/geronb/gbu086
复制
发表时间：
2015-07-01
影响因子：
6.2
通讯作者：
Romero, Heather R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Carvalho, Janessa O.;Tommet, Doug;Romero, Heather R.
目标.评估血管疾病和教育质量对白色和非洲裔美国人（AA）老年人认知能力的影响。我们调查了一项队列研究中白人（n = 461）和AA（n = 118）在执行功能（EF）和记忆复合物方面的横截面和纵向种族差异。我们研究了脑血管危险因素和Shipley词汇得分（教育质量的代表）是否可以解释种族差异。平均而言，AA具有较低的教育质量和更多的脑血管危险因素，包括高血压，糖尿病和肥胖。AA在基线时平均EF和记忆力较低，但下降率无组间差异。在控制血管疾病后，EF和记忆的横截面种族差异仍然存在，但在控制Shipley词汇后消失。在解释白色和AA老年人记忆和EF表现的横截面差异方面，教育质量似乎比脑血管危险因素更重要。需要进一步研究教育质量和脑血管危险因素对不同种族/民族老年人认知能力下降的相对影响。
Objectives. To evaluate the effects of vascular conditions and education quality on cognition over time in White and African American (AA) older adults.Method. We investigated cross-sectional and longitudinal racial differences in executive functioning (EF) and memory composites among Whites (n = 461) and AAs (n = 118) enrolled in a cohort study. We examined whether cerebrovascular risk factors and Shipley Vocabulary scores (a proxy for education quality) accounted for racial differences.Results. On average, AAs had lower quality of education and more cerebrovascular risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. AAs had lower mean EF and memory at baseline, but there were no group differences in rates of decline. Cross-sectional racial differences in EF and memory persisted after controlling for vascular disease, but disappeared when controlling for Shipley Vocabulary.Discussion. Quality of education appears to be more important than cerebrovascular risk factors in explaining cross-sectional differences in memory and EF performance between White and AA older adults. Further investigation is needed regarding the relative contribution of education quality and cerebrovascular risk factors to cognitive decline among ethnically/racially diverse older adults.