The Panama Aging Research Initiative Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The Panama Aging Research Initiative is a cohort study of 423 adults aged ≥65 years recruited from an outpatient geriatric department of Panama's largest public hospital,

Prevalence of dementia in Latin America and Caribbean countries: Systematic review and meta-analyses exploring age, sex, rurality, and education as possible determinants

“… Correa Ribeiro et al (2013) only included participants from a private health care plan, representing less than 30% of the older adults in Rio de Janeiro at the time of data collection ( Agência Nacional de Saúde, 2021 ). The description of the study methods by Pedraza et al (2017) did not conclusively state whether the sample was representative, and Villarreal et al (2016) comprised older adults of just one public hospital in Panama, for this reason, their results may underestimate the extent of dementia among older Panamanians ( Villarreal et al, 2019 ). Although five articles were classified as unclear regarding the appropriateness of recruited participants ( Brucki and Nitrini, 2014 , Correia et al, 2011 , Lopes et al, 2012 , Pedraza et al, 2017 , Ramos-Cerqueira et al, 2005 ), all articles presented adequate sample size.…”

Depression Mediates the Association Between Occupational Complexity and Late-Life Cognition in Hispanics

“…Data for this study came from the Panama Aging Research Initiative (PARI), an ongoing longitudinal study of Panamanian aging [ 12 ]. To date, PARI has collected data from two cohorts, with a total of 892 participants who completed a baseline assessment.…”

“…To date, PARI has collected data from two cohorts, with a total of 892 participants who completed a baseline assessment. The PARI protocol for the first cohort has been described in detail elsewhere [ 12 ]. In the second cohort, inclusion criteria were the same with the exception that the minimum enrollment age was 60 years.…”

“…In Panama, adults aged 60 and over accounted for 12.4% of the national population in 2020, a proportion expected to increase to 24% by 2050 [ 10, 11 ]. In our ongoing cohort study of older adults, the Panama Aging Research Initiative [ 12 ], we have begun to explore various factors associated with cognitive health in later life, including educational level, depressive symptoms [ 13 ], inflammatory markers [ 14 ], and genetic factors [ 15 ]. Notably, we have found that depression is closely associated with late-life cognition and function [ 13 ] and also with increased levels of inflammatory markers [ 14 ].…”

Digital phenotyping: An equal opportunity approach to reducing disparities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementia research

“…To date, PARI has identified various risk factors associated with dementia and cognitive impairment in elderly Panamanians of diverse backgrounds, including advanced age, low educational levels, depressive symptoms, and apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) ε4 expression. From 2012 to 2013, the first wave of participants aged ≥ 65 years were recruited from the largest national public hospital based in the capital city of Panama 13 . In a subsample of these individuals who underwent consensus diagnosis, APOE ε4 carriers were 5.1 times (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.5–12.5) more likely to have cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment [MCI]/AD combined) relative to APOE ε4 non‐carriers 14 .…”