Cognitive Aging in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults in Puerto Rico

描述（由申请人提供）：我们提出了一个为期两年的探索性/发展性项目，在第一个以60岁及以上波多黎各社区居民为基础的全岛范围的人口研究中，研究认知结果的预测因素。为了确定4291名参与者的目标样本，研究人员走访了波多黎各主岛的各个家庭

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose a two-year exploratory/developmental project to examine predictors of cognitive outcomes in the first population-based, island-wide study of community-dwelling Puerto Ricans age 60 and older. Households across the main island of Puerto Rico were visited in order to identify the target sample of 4,291 participants for the Puerto Rican Elderly: Health Conditions (PREHCO) study. This proposal takes advantage of rich life course data to investigate theory- driven hypotheses about factors that may influence cognitive aging. The overarching goals are to (a) analyze the existing life course and cognitive data, (b) enrich the data with more refined assessment of educational and occupation-based factors, and (c) use this project as a springboard for a longitudinal follow-up of the PREHCO sample for the purpose of collecting additional cognitive data as well as new genetic and biomarker data relevant to examining cognitive aging. In this exploratory study, we propose to expand life course measures available in PREHCO by gathering novel data on quality of education in early-life, and on occupational complexity and job strain in adulthood, in order to obtain a comprehensive record of environmental factors relevant to cognitive function in older adulthood. This project will also allow us to provide the first population-based normative data for cognitive performance among older adults in Puerto Rico, and to implement regression-based cutoffs for determining cognitive impairment with a Spanish language measure. The overall hypothesis is that potentially modifiable factors related to socioeconomic status (SES), environmental complexity, and stress across the life course will be predictors of cognitive outcomes in later life. This initial developmental project will strengthen a subsequent research proposal to follow-up the PREHCO sample (currently age 70+).