Effect of socioeconomic disparities on incidence of dementia among biracial older adults: prospective study

Objective To examine whether observed differences in dementia rates between black and white older people living in the community could be explained by measures of socioeconomic status (income, financial adequacy, education, and literacy) and health related factors. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting General community from two clinic sites in the United States (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Memphis, Tennessee). Participants 2457 older people (mean age 73.6 years; 1019 (41.5%) black; 1233 (50.2%) women), dementia-free at baseline, in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study. Main outcome measure Dementia was determined over 12 years (ending January 2011) by prescribed dementia drugs, hospital records, and decline in global cognitive scores. The influence of socioeconomic status and health related factors on dementia rates was examined in a series of Cox proportional hazard models in which these variables were added sequentially in covariate blocks. Results Over follow-up, 449 (18.3%) participants developed dementia. Black participants were more likely than white participants to develop dementia (211 (20.7%) v 238 (16.6%),