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Race and Personal Exposure to AD Influence Projected Memory Failure Attributions and Help-Seeking Behaviors
Marisa S Mills1, Brenda R Whitehead1, Nancy Howells Wrobel1
1Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan, USA.
Objectives:
Examine race and personal exposure to Alzheimer's Disease (AD) on projected memory failure attributions and medical help-seeking thresholds of pre-morbid adults. The goal is to better understand race discrepancies in help-seeking for those potentially at risk for early-onset AD.
Methods:
498 adults aged 40 to 65 (M = 52.27), screened for current memory failure, completed an online questionnaire exploring their help-seeking intentions and threshold, attributions of hypothetical memory failures, and level of AD concern.
Results:
Non-Hispanic Whites (n = 248) were significantly more concerned about AD than African Americans (n = 250) (p =.027). Personal exposure to AD moderated the impact of race on memory failure attributions (p =.036), so that personal exposure was more influential for African Americans. Those who were more likely to attribute hypothetical memory failures to AD had lower projected thresholds for seeking a medical evaluation (p =.010). Memory failure attribution emerged as a potential mediator of the impact of race on projected help-seeking behaviors (p =.057).
Conclusions:
African Americans were more influenced by personal experience when considering the causes of hypothetical memory failures.
Clinical Implications:
Healthcare providers should emphasize to African American families the value of early AD detection and treatment in terms of quality of life for both patient and caregiver.
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