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How do socioeconomic conditions affect health disparities in Alzheimer’s and other dementia?
Charles Windon, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA - United States
Background
The Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) project evaluates the clinical utility of brain scans to study the levels of beta-amyloid in the brain; beta-amyloid accumulates to form plaques, a hallmark brain change observed in Alzheimer’s. This study is performed in 18,200 Medicare beneficiaries with mild cognitive impairment (a state of subtle memory loss that may precede Alzheimer’s) or dementia referred from approximately 600 clinical sites throughout the United States.
According to the 2021 Alzheimer’s Association Facts & Figures report, older Blacks/African American individuals are twice as likely and Hispanic/Latino individuals are one and one-half times as likely to develop dementia as older white individuals. To address these racial disparities in dementia, as an extension of the IDEAS study, the Alzheimer’s Association along with its partner, the American College of Radiology, launched the “New IDEAS” study. This study will recruit an additional 7,000 participants, focusing on inclusion of Black/African American and Hispanics/Latino Medicare beneficiaries.
Research Plan
Dr. Charles Windon and colleagues will leverage the New IDEAS study and compare datasets from 500 Black/African American individuals, 500 Hispanic/Latino individuals and 750 non-Hispanic white individuals. The researchers will study how socioeconomic conditions (including income and educational status) may impact brain changes observed in Alzheimer’s as well as the use of emergency services among the different ethnic and racial groups.
Further, the researchers will use brain scans (Positron Emission Tomography of PET) to study the association of beta-amyloid plaque levels and diabetes, hypertension, and other heart diseases, in the context of the level of cognitive impairment in these participants. Next, the researchers will also use blood samples to study and compare differences in biological markers (biomarkers) associated with Alzheimer’s among the different groups.
Impact
Optimizing health for the U.S. population requires eliminating disparities and addressing the multiple determinants of health. The study findings may allow us to better address the health disparities among racially and culturally diverse populations and aid in prevention efforts of Alzheimer’s and other dementia.
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