Race and Apolipoprotein E-e4 Allele Status Differences in the Association Between Loneliness and Cognitive Decline
Pankaja Desai1, Kristin R Krueger, Carlos Mendes de Leon
1From the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging (Desai, Krueger, Evans, Rajan), Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; Georgetown University, School of Medicine (de Leon), Washington, DC;Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center (Wilson), Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; and Department of Neurology (Rajan), University of California at Davis, Davis, California.
Objective:
This study aimed to examine race and apolipoprotein E-e4 allele (APOE-e4) status differences in the longitudinal associations between loneliness and cognitive decline.
Methods:
The study sample is composed of participants ( N = 7696, 64% Black participants and 36% White participants) from the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a population-based cohort study. Mixed-effects regression models were conducted to examine the longitudinal associations between loneliness on global cognitive function and individual tests of cognitive function. Models were also stratified by race and APOE-e4.
Results:
A greater percentage of Black participants (17%) reported loneliness at baseline visit compared with White participants (12%). Black and White participants who were lonely individuals had a similar rate of decline in global cognitive function at 0.075 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.082 to -0.068) standard deviation unit (SDU) per year for Black participants and at 0.075 (95% CI = -0.086 to -0.063) SDU per year for White participants. Lonely participants with APOE-e4 had a higher rate of global cognitive decline at -0.102 (95% CI = -0.115 to -0.088) SDU per year than for lonely participants without APOE-e4 at -0.052 (95% CI = -0.059 to -0.045) SDU per year.
Conclusions:
The burden of loneliness and its relation to cognitive decline is higher among participants with APOE-e4 compared with those without APOE-e4. Loneliness is associated with cognitive decline in both Black and White participants.
More Related Videos
07:08A High Throughput, Multiplexed and Targeted Proteomic CSF Assay to Quantify Neurodegenerative Biomarkers and Apolipoprotein E Isoforms Status
Published on: October 20, 2016
06:23The 4 Mountains Test: A Short Test of Spatial Memory with High Sensitivity for the Diagnosis of Pre-dementia Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: October 13, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Language and Cognition
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ...
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Relationship Formation
