INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 02 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 08:00 am - 09:15 am Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 02: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1 Final Abstract #1 Associations Among Loneliness, Subjective and Objective Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Latinos Jorge Alcina, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Jennifer Gatchel, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Diana Munera, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Averi Giudicessi, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Nikole Bonillas Felix, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Elizabeth Kaplan, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Jairo Martinez, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Alex Badillo Cabrera, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Clara Vila Castelar, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Liliana Ramirez-Gomez, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Marta Gonzalez Catalan, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Yakeel Quiroz, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Category: MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) Keyword 1: aging disorders Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues Objective: Latinos are the fastest growing subpopulation of older adults in the U.S. and are 1.5 times more likely than non-Latino Whites to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Among older adults, loneliness has been associated with greater endorsement of subjective cognitive complaints, and greater incidence of medical, psychiatric, and neurocognitive disorders, greater dementia pathology burden, and adverse functional outcomes. Latinos in the US may experience increased loneliness due to low acculturation, language barriers, remote work, and immigration-related stressors. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a risk factor for AD-related cognitive dysfunction and it may help us better understand the cognitive impacts associated with loneliness in older Latinos in the preclinical stages of dementia. This study examined associations among loneliness and subjective and objective cognitive decline in older Latino adults. Participants and Methods: 79 participants from the Boston Latino Aging Study, ages 55 years or older, 78.4 % female (N = 62 females, N = 17 males), mean age 68.27 + 7.88 years, mean educational attainment 11.22 + 5.25 years, Spanish-speaking, with and without subjective cognitive impairment, were included. Objective cognition was measured using the Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Composite-5 (PACC5; a z-score), calculated as the mean performance across five measures: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-4th edition (WAIS-IV) Digit Symbol Coding, the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT); Logical Memory, from the NEUROPSI Atención y Memoria, and Category Fluency (Animals). Loneliness was assessed with the 6-item DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and subjective cognitive decline was measured with the Cognitive Function Instrument (CFI). Correlations among loneliness, subjective cognitive decline, and objective cognition were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation and nonparametric partial correlations. Education, age, sex, and depressive symptoms (measured using Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]) were included as covariates in the analysis. Four overlapping items sharing variance in both the DeJon Gierveld and the GDS were identified using principal component analysis and were excluded. Results: Mean total loneliness score for participants was 2.22 + 1.67, and mean CFI score was 4.43 + 3.52. Higher loneliness was associated with higher subjective cognitive complaints (r = .392, p < .001). Greater subjective cognitive decline was associated with worse global cognition (r = -.432, p < .001). Similarly, higher loneliness was associated with poorer global cognition (r = -.261, p = .020). Conclusions: Overall, higher loneliness correlated with increased subjective cognitive decline and worse global cognition, underscoring the need to address this risk factor among Latino/a/e/x elders and the potential cognitive benefits of such interventions. Limitations of the present study include its cross-sectional nature and a relatively small sample size, which may impact the generalizability of its findings. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating subjective and objective cognition in relation to loneliness among Latino elders. Future studies with larger samples and longitudinal follow-up are needed to further elucidate cognitive effects associated with loneliness, particularly in Latino/a/e/x and other underrepresented minoritized groups.

Poster

02/15/2024
08:00 am - 09:15 am
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 02: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 1

Final Abstract #1

Associations Among Loneliness, Subjective and Objective Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Latinos

Jorge Alcina, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Jennifer Gatchel, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Diana Munera, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Averi Giudicessi, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Nikole Bonillas Felix, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Elizabeth Kaplan, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Jairo Martinez, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Alex Badillo Cabrera, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Clara Vila Castelar, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Liliana Ramirez-Gomez, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Marta Gonzalez Catalan, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Yakeel Quiroz, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States

Category: MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment)

Keyword 1: aging disorders
Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues

Objective:

Latinos are the fastest growing subpopulation of older adults in the U.S. and are 1.5 times more likely than non-Latino Whites to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). Among older adults, loneliness has been associated with greater endorsement of subjective cognitive complaints, and greater incidence of medical, psychiatric, and neurocognitive disorders, greater dementia pathology burden, and adverse functional outcomes. Latinos in the US may experience increased loneliness due to low acculturation, language barriers, remote work, and immigration-related stressors. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a risk factor for AD-related cognitive dysfunction and it may help us better understand the cognitive impacts associated with loneliness in older Latinos in the preclinical stages of dementia. This study examined associations among loneliness and subjective and objective cognitive decline in older Latino adults.

Participants and Methods:

79 participants from the Boston Latino Aging Study, ages 55 years or older, 78.4 % female (N = 62 females, N = 17 males), mean age 68.27 + 7.88 years, mean educational attainment 11.22 + 5.25 years, Spanish-speaking, with and without subjective cognitive impairment, were included. Objective cognition was measured using the Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Composite-5 (PACC5; a z-score), calculated as the mean performance across five measures: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-4th edition (WAIS-IV) Digit Symbol Coding, the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT); Logical Memory, from the NEUROPSI Atención y Memoria, and Category Fluency (Animals). Loneliness was assessed with the 6-item DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and subjective cognitive decline was measured with the Cognitive Function Instrument (CFI). Correlations among loneliness, subjective cognitive decline, and objective cognition were examined using Spearman’s rank correlation and nonparametric partial correlations. Education, age, sex, and depressive symptoms (measured using Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]) were included as covariates in the analysis. Four overlapping items sharing variance in both the DeJon Gierveld and the GDS were identified using principal component analysis and were excluded.

Results:

Mean total loneliness score for participants was 2.22 + 1.67, and mean CFI score was 4.43 + 3.52. Higher loneliness was associated with higher subjective cognitive complaints (r = .392, p < .001). Greater subjective cognitive decline was associated with worse global cognition (r = -.432, p < .001). Similarly, higher loneliness was associated with poorer global cognition (r = -.261, p = .020).

Conclusions:

Overall, higher loneliness correlated with increased subjective cognitive decline and worse global cognition, underscoring the need to address this risk factor among Latino/a/e/x elders and the potential cognitive benefits of such interventions. Limitations of the present study include its cross-sectional nature and a relatively small sample size, which may impact the generalizability of its findings. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating subjective and objective cognition in relation to loneliness among Latino elders. Future studies with larger samples and longitudinal follow-up are needed to further elucidate cognitive effects associated with loneliness, particularly in Latino/a/e/x and other underrepresented minoritized groups.