Affiliations: [a] Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| [b] Department of Organic and Geriatric Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Rifat B. Alam, Department of Kinesi-ology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 212A Huff Hall MC-588, 1206 South Fourth Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. Tel.: +1 505 363 2951; E-mail: rifata2@illinois.edu.
Abstract: Background:Hispanics in the United States are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Little is known about the impact of acculturation on cognitive performance. Objective:This study examined the association between acculturation and cognitive performance among older Hispanics. Methods:We analyzed cross-sectional data of 616 Hispanic participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014 [average age = 67.15 years, %Female = 51.46, %less than high-school graduate = 52.60]. Cognitive performance was measured by two neuropsychological tests: Animal Fluency Test (AFT) and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). We used two single-item proxy measures to quantify acculturation: nativity status (non-US-born residing < 15 years in the US (low acculturation), non-US-born residing ≥15 years in the US, and US-born (high acculturation)); and language acculturation (only/mostly Spanish (low acculturation), Spanish and English, only/mostly English (high acculturation)). We used adjusted linear regression to evaluate associations between acculturation and cognitive performance. Results:Results indicated poorer cognitive performance among the low-acculturated groups for both nativity and linguistic measures. Participants who were non-US-born living ≥15 years (p = 0.02) and speaking only/mostly Spanish or Spanish and English (p = 0.01 and 0.006 respectively) had significantly lower AFT scores compared to US-born and only/mostly English-speaking groups. Participants who were non-US-born living < 15 years (p < 0.0001) or non-US-born living ≥15 years (p < 0.0001) and speaking only/mostly Spanish (p = 0.0008) scored lower on the DSST than the US-born and only/mostly English-speaking participants. Conclusion:In summary, low acculturation is associated with poorer cognitive performance among older Hispanics. Acculturation might be an important attribute to help understand cognitive decline and dementias among Hispanics.
