INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 06 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 04:00 pm - 05:15 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 06: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2 Final Abstract #69 Financial Exploitation Vulnerability is Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropsychological Profile in Older Adults Without Dementia Elizabeth Erdman, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Nathan Wei, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Jennifer Herrera, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Laura Fenton, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States Daisy Noriega, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States Gali Weissberger, Bar-Ilan University, Raman Gat, Israel Annie Nguyen, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States Jenna Axelrod, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Aaron Lim, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States S Han, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Category: Aging Keyword 1: dementia - Alzheimer's disease Keyword 2: neuropsychological assessment Keyword 3: decision-making Objective: In recent years, reports of financial exploitation have steadily increased among adults age 60 and older. Emerging evidence suggests that experiences of financial exploitation may be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s Disease. While impaired cognition is broadly associated with financial exploitation vulnerability and tracks closely with Alzheimer’s Disease progression, no studies have examined specific cognitive impairments associated with financial exploitation vulnerability. The current study therefore explores whether financial exploitation vulnerability is associated with performance in different cognitive domains in a sample of older adults without dementia. Participants and Methods: Participants were a community sample of adults over the age of 50 (N = 38, Age M(SD) = 69.6(7.0), 68% female, Years of education M(SD) = 16.6(2.3)). Interested individuals were excluded if they had diagnosis of dementia, neurological or psychiatric illness, or current or past substance use disorders. Participants completed up to 2 laboratory visits that each included a neuropsychological assessment. Measures included the MINT, CVLT-II, Digit Span, Craft Story Recall, Trails A/B, Benson Complex Figure Recall, and Verbal Fluency: Phonemic and Semantic, from the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers’ Uniform Data Set (UDS) version 3. Participants also completed the Perceived Financial Vulnerability Scale (PFVS) to assess financial exploitation vulnerability, and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator to assess multidimensional frailty. Analyses included linear mixed models to account for variations within-person and across time. Models used random intercepts, and were fitted using restricted maximum likelihood, and p-values were derived using Sattherthwaite approximations. An initial covariate block was tested to identify optimal covariates in final models. Models tested associations between neuropsychological measures and financial exploitation vulnerability. Results: After covarying for years of education and frailty, PFVS was negatively associated with CVLT total free recall (B(SE) = -.46(.21), p = .03) and phonemic fluency (B(SE) = -.18(.08), p = .03) across participants and time. PFVS was marginally negatively associated with semantic fluency (B(SE) = -.13(.07), p = .07) and MINT (B(SE) = -.10(.06), p = .09). PFVS was not associated with Digit Span longest span forwards or backwards, Trail Making Test B, Craft Story Recall, or Benson Complex Figure Recall. Conclusions: In a community sample of cognitively unimpaired older adults over the age of 50, greater financial exploitation vulnerability was associated or marginally associated with worse verbal memory, semantic and phonemic fluency, and confrontation naming. Worse performance in these tests is suggestive of an Alzheimer’s Disease neuropsychological profile. Notably, as this sample has low levels of cognitive impairment, financial exploitation vulnerability may therefore track closely with early cognitive indicators associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. Future studies are needed to understand longitudinal cognitive trajectories of individuals with elevated financial exploitation vulnerability.

Poster

02/15/2024
04:00 pm - 05:15 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 06: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2

Final Abstract #69

Financial Exploitation Vulnerability is Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropsychological Profile in Older Adults Without Dementia

Elizabeth Erdman, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Nathan Wei, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Jennifer Herrera, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Laura Fenton, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Daisy Noriega, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Gali Weissberger, Bar-Ilan University, Raman Gat, Israel
Annie Nguyen, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States
Jenna Axelrod, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Aaron Lim, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
S Han, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States

Category: Aging

Keyword 1: dementia - Alzheimer's disease
Keyword 2: neuropsychological assessment
Keyword 3: decision-making

Objective:

In recent years, reports of financial exploitation have steadily increased among adults age 60 and older. Emerging evidence suggests that experiences of financial exploitation may be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s Disease. While impaired cognition is broadly associated with financial exploitation vulnerability and tracks closely with Alzheimer’s Disease progression, no studies have examined specific cognitive impairments associated with financial exploitation vulnerability. The current study therefore explores whether financial exploitation vulnerability is associated with performance in different cognitive domains in a sample of older adults without dementia.

Participants and Methods:

Participants were a community sample of adults over the age of 50 (N = 38, Age M(SD) = 69.6(7.0), 68% female, Years of education M(SD) = 16.6(2.3)). Interested individuals were excluded if they had diagnosis of dementia, neurological or psychiatric illness, or current or past substance use disorders. Participants completed up to 2 laboratory visits that each included a neuropsychological assessment. Measures included the MINT, CVLT-II, Digit Span, Craft Story Recall, Trails A/B, Benson Complex Figure Recall, and Verbal Fluency: Phonemic and Semantic, from the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers’ Uniform Data Set (UDS) version 3. Participants also completed the Perceived Financial Vulnerability Scale (PFVS) to assess financial exploitation vulnerability, and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator to assess multidimensional frailty. Analyses included linear mixed models to account for variations within-person and across time. Models used random intercepts, and were fitted using restricted maximum likelihood, and p-values were derived using Sattherthwaite approximations. An initial covariate block was tested to identify optimal covariates in final models. Models tested associations between neuropsychological measures and financial exploitation vulnerability.

Results:

After covarying for years of education and frailty, PFVS was negatively associated with CVLT total free recall (B(SE) = -.46(.21), p = .03) and phonemic fluency (B(SE) = -.18(.08), p = .03) across participants and time. PFVS was marginally negatively associated with semantic fluency (B(SE) = -.13(.07), p = .07) and MINT (B(SE) = -.10(.06), p = .09). PFVS was not associated with Digit Span longest span forwards or backwards, Trail Making Test B, Craft Story Recall, or Benson Complex Figure Recall.

Conclusions:

In a community sample of cognitively unimpaired older adults over the age of 50, greater financial exploitation vulnerability was associated or marginally associated with worse verbal memory, semantic and phonemic fluency, and confrontation naming. Worse performance in these tests is suggestive of an Alzheimer’s Disease neuropsychological profile. Notably, as this sample has low levels of cognitive impairment, financial exploitation vulnerability may therefore track closely with early cognitive indicators associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. Future studies are needed to understand longitudinal cognitive trajectories of individuals with elevated financial exploitation vulnerability.