State and Local Educational Contexts of Older U.S. Adults and Their Association with Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

项目摘要 教育程度，往往被概念化和衡量为人力资本属性，是最强的一个 老年人中阿尔茨海默病和相关痴呆症（ADRD）的预测因子， 是对抗认知障碍和痴呆重要保护因素。最近有记录显示， 痴呆症的流行和发病率归因于教育程度的历史性增长。作为 随着受教育程度上升趋势的减缓，预计ADRD患病率的下降也将减缓。 虽然随着时间的推移，教育程度的差异确实有所减少，但老年人 在不同出生群体和种族中经历了截然不同的教育环境，特别是黑人老年人， 他在美国南部长大想想看，从1920年到1980年，每个学生的支出增加了6倍， 拨款在州政府和地方政府之间的分配变得更加平均，法律上的学校隔离也变得更加公平。 宣布违宪因此，即使教育程度在最近的同龄人中保持稳定， 在早期生活中，教育环境可能有助于区分个人的认知障碍风险， 痴呆我们的项目通过解决四个问题来解决这个被忽视的痴呆症研究领域：（1） 黑人和白色老年人在出生时所经历的州和地方教育背景是什么 （2）教育是否以不同的方式运作，以减少认知障碍或痴呆症的风险， 在黑人和白色老年人中，在更多（或更少）的教育背景下获得;（3）生活 课程途径包括职业，婚姻，行为和健康解释之间的关系， 教育背景和认知障碍和痴呆症，这是否因教育程度而异;以及 (4)在学校废除种族隔离的时间安排和法院授权的范围方面， 废除种族隔离令与居住在美国的黑人和白色老年人的认知障碍有关。 在学校的时候去南方？我们将通过创建丰富的纵向数据资源来回答这些问题 州和地方教育背景，我们将链接到健康和退休研究（HRS），一个全国性的 对50岁以上美国成年人的纵向研究。我们将根据出生情况来估计这些关系的变化 种族和种族。这项研究的预期成果包括：（a）编制教育背景数据， 资源（ECDR），我们将提供给科学界回答其他及时的问题， 教育背景和ADRD，大大扩大了我们项目的影响范围;以及（B）对以下方面的见解 ADRD患病率的更广泛的人口趋势和ADRD的种族差异，使我们能够确定 认知障碍和痴呆风险最高的亚组。

PROJECT SUMMARY Educational attainment, often conceptualized and measured as a human capital attribute, is one of the strongest predictors of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) among older adults and perhaps the most important protective factor against cognitive impairment and dementia. Recently documented declines in prevalence and incidence of dementia have been attributed to historical increases in educational attainment. As trends in rising educational attainment slow, it is expected that reductions in the prevalence of ADRD will as well. While it is true that variability in levels of educational attainment has diminished over time, older adults experienced vastly different educational contexts across birth cohorts and by race, particularly Black older adults who grew up in the U.S. South. Consider that from 1920 to 1980, per-pupil spending increased 6-fold, funding allocation became more evenly split between state and local governments, and de jure school segregation was declared unconstitutional. Thus, even if educational attainment remains steady in more recent cohorts, inequities in early life educational contexts may serve to differentiate individuals in their risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. Our project addresses this neglected area of dementia research by addressing four questions: (1) what were the state and local educational contexts experienced by Black and White older adults across birth cohorts; (2) does education operate differently to reduce risk for cognitive impairment or dementia when it is attained under more (or less) advantaged educational contexts among Black and White older adults; (3) do life course pathways encompassing occupation, marriage, behavior, and health explain the relationship between educational contexts and cognitive impairment and dementia and does this vary by educational attainment; and (4) how does state-level variation in the timing of school desegregation efforts and in the extent of court mandated desegregation orders relate to cognitive impairment among Black and White older adults who lived in the U.S. South during school? We will answer these questions through the creation of a rich, longitudinal data resource of state and local educational contexts that we will link to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative longitudinal study of U.S. adults over 50. We will estimate variation in these relationships by birth cohort and race. Expected outcomes of this study include (a) the development of the Education Contextual Data Resource (ECDR) that we will make available to the scientific community to answer other timely questions about educational contexts and ADRD, significantly expanding the reach of our project’s impact; and (b) insights into broader population trends in ADRD prevalence and racial disparities in ADRD, allowing us to identify the subgroups at greatest risk for cognitive impairment and dementia.