Aging / Alzheimer's Disease
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/21727
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Browsing Aging / Alzheimer's Disease by Author "Johnson, Leigh"
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Item Impact of Hypertension, Diabetes, and Dyslipidemia Comorbidity on Cognition among Hispanic Mexican Americans: An HABLE Study(2015-03) Borden, Ashley N.; Johnson, Leigh; Edwards, Melissa; O'Bryant, SidBackground: Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus are medical diagnoses that occur at high prevalence rates among the Hispanic Mexican American population. Current research shows that each individual diagnosis is linked to cognitive decline, but this assertion is limited in that these studies have been conducted on Non-Hispanic White populations only. Additionally, an insignificant number of studies have investigated the comorbidity of these diagnoses, and how that may impact risk for cognitive impairment. This study seeks to fill this gap in the literature by determining the association between combinations of these diagnoses and cognitive functioning within a Hispanic Mexican-American population. Methods: Data were analyzed from 537 Mexican American participants who met diagnostic criteria for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus (Group 1, one diagnosis, n= 148; Group 2, two diagnoses, n=219; Group 3, three diagnoses, n=170) from the Health and Aging Brain study among Latino Elders (HABLE). Information from each participant was obtained via clinical interview (including medical history, current medications, and health behaviors), informant interview, neuropsychological testing, blood draw, and physical examination. Consensus reviews were conducted weekly to review subject data, and to establish cognitive and medical diagnoses according to national guidelines. Linear regressions analyses were utilized to examine cognitive functioning, measured through the domains of memory and verbal fluency as the dependent variable, with the independent variable consisting of the number of medical diagnoses (one, two, or three). Covariates included age, gender, and education. Results: Those in Group 1 displayed poorer performance on measures of immediate (B[SE]= -2.66[1.05], t-test = -2.52, p-value=0.012) and delayed (B[SE]= -1.59[0.77], t-test= -2.04, p-value= 0.041) memory. Differentially, those in Group 2 showed poorer performance on tasks related to verbal fluency (B[SE]=-2.33[0.80], t-test= -2.88, p-value=0.004) and working memory (B[SE]=-0.59[0.24], t-test=-2.42, p-value=0.016). Group 3, which encompassed all three medical diagnoses, was not significantly related to any of the cognitive domains that were examined. Conclusion: These findings suggest that within the Hispanic Mexican American population, domains of cognitive functioning are differentially affected within each group, with Group 3 showing no significant increased risk for cognitive dysfunction. These findings do not support current research, which suggests a higher and more invariable prevalence of cognitive decline, regardless of the comorbidity of these diagnoses. Additional research is needed to investigate the neurological effects of the biological pathways associated with the varying combination of diseases, which may explain the dissimilarity in associated cognitive function.Item Worry in Mexican American Elders: The Role of Age, Gender, and Metabolic Syndrome(2015-03) Chaphekar, Anita V.; Hall, James; Johnson, Leigh; O'Bryant, Sid1. Purpose: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is defined as risk factors which increase an individual’s risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Risk factors include: abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood glucose. Research has suggested that worry, independent of anxiety, can contribute to poor health effects such as those seen with MetS. Mexican Americans (MA) have a high prevalence of worry and MetS, however a relationship between these variables has yet to be investigated for this population. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between MetS and worry in the MA population. It is hypothesized that individuals with high levels of worry will be more likely to have MetS and show elevated risk factors. This study also examines the effect of age and gender on levels of worry in this population. 2. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data collected from the Health and Aging Brain Study among Latino Elders. Participants were grouped into a high or low worry category based on their Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) score. Odds ratio was calculated for the presence of MetS. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the following: differences in MetS risk factors between individuals with high and low levels of worry, and differences in levels of worry based on gender and age. 3. Results: Odds ratio calculation was not significant for the presence of MetS (95% CI 0.443-1.163, p = 0.18) between individuals of differing levels of worry. Participants with high and low worry showed a significant difference in abdominal circumference (p = 0.025) and blood glucose (p = 0.038). Males and females showed a significant difference in total PSWQ score (p = 0.000). There was a significant difference in total PSWQ score between individuals aged 61 and above and those aged 60 and below (p = 0.006). 4. Conclusion: Individuals with a high level of worry did not have an increased likelihood to have MetS compared to individuals in a low worry group. However, when analyzing each risk factor alone, participants in a high worry group had a greater abdominal circumference and higher fasting glucose levels compared to those in a low worry group. The results of this study suggest the association of waist size and blood glucose with elevated levels of worry in the MA population. Results showed that females and individuals under the age of 61 have higher levels of worry compared to males and those over the age of 61, respectively.