Is Acculturation Associated with the Cognitive Performance of Older Hispanics?

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.

This study examined the association between acculturation and cognitive performance among older Hispanics.

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 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.

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.