Enhancing ADRD Research in NHATS: Expanding Representation of the Hispanic Population

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The overarching aim of this supplement is to expand representation of the Hispanic population in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) in 2021 to 2023 so as to allow analyses of ADRD trends and trajectories, care needs and consequences for individuals and families. As the Hispanic population living in the United States grows and ages, understanding the epidemiology of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), including care needs and consequences as well as ADRD prevalence and trends, are high priority scientific aims. NHATS interviews a nationally representative sample of older adults annually in order to (1) promote scientific inquiry into late-life disability trends and dynamics, their antecedents and correlates, and disparities therein and (2) to advance study of the social and economic consequences of late-life disability for individuals, families, and society. The NHATS sample is replenished periodically; the first replenishment was fielded in 2015 and a second replenishment is planned for 2021 (a one- year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Because the NHATS sample is drawn from the Medicare enrollment file of persons 65 and older, which is national in scope and provides information on race/ethnicity, Hispanic individuals may be sampled in an efficient and cost-effective manner providing the opportunity to provide important insights into ADRD for the Hispanic older population. Moreover, its supplemental National Study of Caregiving, which interviews family and unpaid caregivers of NHATS participants, could provide important insights into how Hispanic families' experiences differ when caring for an older relative with ADRD. The specific aims of this supplement are to: 1) Interview an add-on Hispanic sample in NHATS 2021-2023 rounds yielding approximately 2000 interviews with Hispanic individuals in 2021, including 750 with probable or possible dementia; 2) Interview family caregivers generated by the add-on Hispanic sample in the National Study of Caregiving 2021-2023 rounds, yielding approximately 700 interviews with caregivers to Hispanic NHATS participants in 2021, including 400 with probable or possible dementia; and 3) Incorporate the add-on samples into the NHATS and NSOC public, sensitive and restricted files, including weights, and disseminate to the user community. The Hispanic add-on sample will allow researchers to study ADRD care needs and care giving to older Hispanic adults, contrasting them with experiences of non-Hispanic groups with ADRD and their caregivers and with Hispanic older adults needing care for other reasons.