INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 03 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 09:30 am - 10:40 am Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 03: Neurotrauma \| Neurovascular Final Abstract #28 Childhood Head Injury and Risk of Dementia Later in Life: Results from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) Lesley Guareña, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States Phillip Cantu, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, United States Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience Keyword 1: child brain injury Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues Keyword 3: diversity Objective: Head injury is a critical public health problem that disproportionately affects individuals in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC). Head injury burden in childhood and its long-term effects on cognitive health remains an area of research largely unexplored. As such, this study aimed to characterize the prevalence of childhood HI among older adult Mexican individuals and assess its association with dementia incidence in older adulthood. Participants and Methods: We used data from the 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) (N=14,575; age: M=64.34; 58% female; education: M=5.65). Participants were asked if ever experienced a serious blow to head before the age of 10. Participants underwent a comprehensive cognitive battery using the Cross-Cultural Cognitive Examination (CCCE). Cognitive functioning for participants who were interviewed via proxy were determined using the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Dementia status was determined based on population norms on cognitive functioning and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Results: Adjusting for sex, age and education, logistic regression models on dementia revealed that a serious blow to the head before age 10 was associated with higher odds of dementia (OR=1.7, p<0.001). In sensitivity analysis, we show that older adults who experience a serious blow to the head are more likely to experience functional decline but not cognitive decline. Conclusions: Head injury before age 10 was associated with greater odds of having dementia in an aging cohort representative of the Mexican population. Results suggest that functional decline is especially important for determining dementia in older Mexican adults with history of head injury in childhood. Further research would benefit from better characterizing head injuries in childhood and uncovering mechanisms by which these traumatic events may be impacting cognitive and functional outcomes in older adulthood.

Poster

02/15/2024
09:30 am - 10:40 am
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 03: Neurotrauma | Neurovascular

Final Abstract #28

Childhood Head Injury and Risk of Dementia Later in Life: Results from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS)

Lesley Guareña, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States
Phillip Cantu, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, United States

Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience

Keyword 1: child brain injury
Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues
Keyword 3: diversity

Objective:

Head injury is a critical public health problem that disproportionately affects individuals in low-to-middle-income countries (LMIC). Head injury burden in childhood and its long-term effects on cognitive health remains an area of research largely unexplored. As such, this study aimed to characterize the prevalence of childhood HI among older adult Mexican individuals and assess its association with dementia incidence in older adulthood.

Participants and Methods:

We used data from the 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) (N=14,575; age: M=64.34; 58% female; education: M=5.65). Participants were asked if ever experienced a serious blow to head before the age of 10. Participants underwent a comprehensive cognitive battery using the Cross-Cultural Cognitive Examination (CCCE). Cognitive functioning for participants who were interviewed via proxy were determined using the Informant Questionnaire for Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Dementia status was determined based on population norms on cognitive functioning and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL).

Results:

Adjusting for sex, age and education, logistic regression models on dementia revealed that a serious blow to the head before age 10 was associated with higher odds of dementia (OR=1.7, p<0.001). In sensitivity analysis, we show that older adults who experience a serious blow to the head are more likely to experience functional decline but not cognitive decline.

Conclusions:

Head injury before age 10 was associated with greater odds of having dementia in an aging cohort representative of the Mexican population. Results suggest that functional decline is especially important for determining dementia in older Mexican adults with history of head injury in childhood. Further research would benefit from better characterizing head injuries in childhood and uncovering mechanisms by which these traumatic events may be impacting cognitive and functional outcomes in older adulthood.