Moving Towards a More Comprehensive Investigation of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Cognitive Disability Among US Adults

We examined racial/ethnic differences in cognitive disability and the contribution of sociodemographic factors to these differences. Using logistic regression, we measured the association between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability after adjustment for sociodemographic covariates, including agegroup, sex, education, nativity, region, marital status, and occupation among 2009 American Community Survey respondents (a parts per thousand yen25 years). Effect modification was also explored. Cognitive disability was self-reported by 6 % of respondents. The proportion with cognitive disability was highest for Blacks and Native American/Pacific Islanders. Statistically significant effect modification was observed for all sociodemographic covariates, except sex. Although most sociodemographic modifiers revealed a more convoluted relationship between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability, the cognitive benefits of higher education, foreign born nativity, and top-tier occupations were observed among most racial/ethnic groups. The observed interplay between sociodemographics and race/ethnicity highlight a complex relationship between race/ethnicity and cognitive disability. Future research should examine mechanisms for this induced complexity.