Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Dementia Risk Among Individuals With Low Education

As higher dementia prevalence in ethnic minority groups could be attributed to low education, we studied individuals with low education and explored potential factors driving dementia disparities.

We examined differences in dementia risk between low-educated non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and African Americans, and the impact of lifetime risk factors using data from the nationally representative Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study (N = 819).

As indicated by Cox regression modeling, dementia risk of low-educated individuals was not significantly different between ethnic groups but was related to having an APOE e4 allele (hazard ratio [HR] 1.89), depression (HR 1.67), stroke (HR 1.60), and smoking (HR 1.32). Further, even in people with low education, every additional year of education decreased dementia risk (HR 0.95).

Our findings imply that higher dementia prevalence in ethnic minorities may be attributable to low education, especially among Hispanics, in addition to other risk factors.