Age of Migration and Cognitive Function Among Older Latinos in the United States

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Garcia, Marc A.^{a; *} | Ortiz, Kasim^b | Arévalo, Sandra P.^c | Diminich, Erica D.^d | Briceño, Emily^e | Vega, Irving E.^f | Tarraf, Wassim^{g; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Sociology and Institute of Ethnic Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA | [b] Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of New Mexico, Institute for the Study of “Race” and Social Justice, Center for Participatory Research, Albuquerque, NM, USA | [c] Department of Human Development, California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA | [d] Program in Public Health, Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, USA | [e] Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA | [f] Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA | [g] Institute of Gerontology and Department of Healthcare Sciences, Wayne State University, MI, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Marc A. Garcia, PhD, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Department of Sociology and Institute of Ethnic Studies, Lincoln, NE, USA. Tel.: +1 402 472 3636; E-mail: marcagarcia@unl.edu and Wassim Tarraf, PhD, Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University. 87 East Ferry Street, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. Tel.: +1 313 664 2632; E-mail: wassim.tarraf@wayne.edu.

Abstract: Background:Age of migration has been shown to have a robust association with Latino immigrant health outcomes; however, the relationship between timing of migration and cognition is less understood. Objective:To examine associations between race/ethnicity, nativity, age of migration, and cognitive aging among US-born (USB) non-Latino Whites (NLW) and USB and foreign-born Latinos 50 years and older. Methods:We used longitudinal biennial data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; 2006-2014) to fit generalized linear and linear latent growth curve models for: 1) global cognition (Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status; TICS-M); 2) memory and attention subdomains of TICS-M; and 3) cognitive dysfunction. We also tested for sex modifications. Results:In age and sex adjusted models, all Latino subgroups, independent of nativity and age of migration, had lower global and domain-specific cognitive scores and higher propensity of cognitive impairment classification compared to USB-NLWs. Differences between USB Latinos, but not other Latino subgroups, and USB-NLWs remained after full covariate adjustment. Latinas, independent of nativity or age of migration, had poorer cognitive scores relative to NLW females. Differences between all Latinos and USB-NLWs were principally expressed at baseline. Racial/ethnic, nativity, and age of migration grouping was not associated with slope (nor explained variance) of cognitive decline. Conclusion:Older US-born Latinos, regardless of sex exhibit poorer cognitive function than older USB-NLWs and foreign-born Latinos. Social determinants that differentially affect cognitive function, particularly those that compensate for education and sex differences among US-born Latinos and foreign-born Latinos, require further exploration.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, cognitive function, immigration, Latino, nativity, sex differences

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-191296

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 1493-1511, 2020