Perceived Cognitive Impairment among African American elders: health and functional impairments in daily life

Abstract

Objectives The Center for Disease Control began to assess Perceived Cognitive Impairment in 2009, yet there has been no in-depth study of how perceived decline in thinking or memory skills may be associated to the health and lifestyle of an independent community-dwelling older person. Among urban-dwelling older African Americans who are at elevated risk for cognitive impairment and dementia, we know even less regarding the interaction of these risk factors. Method Five hundred and one African American elders (n = 501) between the ages of 55 and 95 with an average age of 70.73 years (SD = 8.6 years) participated in telephone interviews. Results Approximately one-third of the elders reported that their memory, thinking skills, or ability to reason was worse than a year ago (n = 150; 29.9%) and 25% of this group (n = 38) reported that this Perceived Cognitive Impairment impacted their daily activities and/or warranted a consultation with their doctor. Bivariate analyses indicated that Perceived Cognitive Impairment was associated with increased health problems, mobility limitations, depressed mood, and lower social functioning. Conclusion Elders who reported that cognitive problems impacted their daily functioning reported the greatest health and mental health problems. Perceived Cognitive Impairment is an important health variable with implications for an older adult’s overall health, mobility, and mental health.

Subjective Memory in a National Sample: Predicting Psychological Well-Being

“…Previous work indicates that these variables are significantly related to both the outcomes of interest and perceptions of memory performance, hence we accounted for their potential confounding effects (Begum et al, 2014; Ficker, Lysack, Hanna, & Lichtenberg, 2014; Lehrner et al, 2014; Snitz et al, 2012). Neuroticism was assessed using a personality scale developed for the MIDUS study (Lachman & Weaver, 1997).…”

Promoting Retention

“…A scale was created to assess the level of mobility-related concerns among the study sample. The mobility scale items were based on questions used in the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE, “a longitudinal study of community-dwelling elders age 65 designed to oversample AA elders” (Ficker, Lysack, Hanna, & Lichtenberg, 2014, p. 475). Research volunteer registry participants are asked to assess their difficulty level in the following eight domains of mobility: heavy housework (e.g., washing windows, shoveling snow), walking up and down a flight of stairs without help, walking a half mile without help, pulling or pushing large objects (a piece of furniture), stooping crouching or kneeling, lifting or carrying weights over 10 lbs (e.g., a heavy bag of groceries), reaching or extending arms above shoulder level, and handling or fingering small objects (e.g., writing) during the telephone survey process.…”

Neurocognitive Performance of African Americans and Hispanic Adults in Relation to Diet and Physical Activity: A Literature Review

“…Perceived but unconfirmed cognitive decline also affects older AAs' psychosocial well-being and mobility. Older AAs with self-reported cognitive decline noted its negative impact on their socio-occupational functioning and had a greater risk of health and mental health problems [8]. Older AAs' ability to perform various physical activities is predictive of disability onset and associated with poor cognitive performance.…”