Does Stroke Contribute to Racial Differences in Cognitive Decline?

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

It is unknown whether blacks' elevated risk of dementia is because of racial differences in acute stroke, the impact of stroke on cognitive health, or other factors. We investigated whether racial differences in cognitive decline are explained by differences in the frequency or impact of incident stroke between blacks and whites, controlling for baseline cognition.

Methods

Among 4908 black and white participants aged ≥65 years free of stroke and cognitive impairment in the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study with linked Medicare data (1998-2010), we examined longitudinal changes in global cognition (modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status) by race, before and after adjusting for time-dependent incident stroke

SUBMITTER: Levine DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4480064 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature