Assessing Alzheimer's Disease Risk Among Latina/o/x Older Adults: A CART Analysis

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Public Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Alzheimer's Disease (AD) disproportionately affects Latina/o/x elders in the U.S.
• Understanding AD risk factors in this demographic is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine key risk factors associated with Alzheimer's Disease in the Latina/o/x elder population.
• To identify sociodemographic and lifestyle factors influencing AD risk.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center data (N=9,801 Latina/o/x older adults).
• Utilized Chi-square tests, t-tests, and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis.
• CART model identified key predictors and risk thresholds.

Main Results:

• Key predictors of AD risk included age, education level, smoking history, BMI, hypertension, and medication use.
• A critical threshold of less than 5.5 years of education, combined with age and smoking, significantly increased AD risk.
• The CART model showed modest discriminative ability (AUC=0.68).

Conclusions:

• Sociodemographic factors like gender, age, and education are critical in determining AD risk for Latina/o/x elders.
• Specific thresholds in age and education impact AD risk.
• Findings support targeted interventions focusing on education and lifestyle modifications.