Sibling Deaths, Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage, and Dementia in Later Life.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Sibling loss is understudied in the bereavement and health literature. The present study considers whether experiencing the death of siblings in mid-to-late life is associated with subsequent dementia risk and how differential exposure to sibling losses by race/ethnicity may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in dementia risk.

Methods

We use discrete-time hazard regression models, a formal mediation test, and a counterfactual simulation to reveal how sibling loss in mid-to-late life affects dementia incidence and whether unequal exposures by race/ethnicity mediate the racial/ethnic disparities in dementia. We analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study (2000-2016). The sample includes 13,589 respondents (10,670 non-Hispanic White, 1,761 non-Hispanic Bla

SUBMITTER: Cha H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9371449 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature