Associations Between Cognitive Impairment with Body Mass Index, Race/Ethnicity, Educational Attainment, and Sex in Older U.S. Adults Participating in NHANES 2011-2014

Document Type

Poster

Campus where you would like to present

Ellensburg

Event Website

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source

Start Date

16-5-2021

End Date

22-5-2021

Keywords

BMI Body Mass Index, cognitive impairment, older US adults

Abstract

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a quick, inexpensive nutritional assessment which may assist RD's in efficiently applying optimal care techniques to enable the best achievable quality of life for adults as they age. Utilizing data from 2011-2014 NHANES of older US adults (≥60 y), this study proposes to evaluate potential associations between BMI, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment with cognitive impairment. Differences in prevalence were assessed through traditionally used cut-off percentiles for each cognitive assessment: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) Word Learning and Delayed Recall, Animal Fluency (AF) test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Of participants who completed at least one cognitive test (n=3123), 44% had an impaired score for at least one test and were considered cognitively impaired (48.8% males, 40.2% females; p=0.0002). Within each BMI category, 58.6% of underweight participants were cognitively impaired, compared to 43.4% normal, 45.4% overweight, and 41.7% obese (p=0.09). Among race/ethnicity, only 38.7% of the Non-Hispanic White sample showed cognitive impairment, compared to 60-66.5% of other self-identified ethnicities (p<0.0001), suggesting possible cultural biases of the assessment tools. When compared to other educational levels, higher educational attainment (college graduate or higher: 29% impaired) was associated with a lower prevalence of impaired cognitive ability (Less than high school (77%), high school grad or equivalent/ GED (50%), some college (37%); p<0.0001). In conclusion, while differences in sex, race/ethnicity and educational attainment were associated with differences in the prevalence of impaired cognitive ability, there was no significant effect of BMI category.

Faculty Mentor(s)

David Gee, Nicole Stendell-Hollis, and Amie Wojtyna

Department/Program

Health Sciences

Additional Mentoring Department

Food Science and Nutrition

Additional Mentoring Department

Nutrition

Additional Mentoring Department

Public Health

Additional Mentoring Department

https://cwu.studentopportunitycenter.com/associations-between-cognitive-impairment-with-body-mass-index-race-ethnicity-educational-attainment-and-gender-in-older-u-s/

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May 16th, 12:00 PM May 22nd, 12:00 PM

Associations Between Cognitive Impairment with Body Mass Index, Race/Ethnicity, Educational Attainment, and Sex in Older U.S. Adults Participating in NHANES 2011-2014

Ellensburg

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a quick, inexpensive nutritional assessment which may assist RD's in efficiently applying optimal care techniques to enable the best achievable quality of life for adults as they age. Utilizing data from 2011-2014 NHANES of older US adults (≥60 y), this study proposes to evaluate potential associations between BMI, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment with cognitive impairment. Differences in prevalence were assessed through traditionally used cut-off percentiles for each cognitive assessment: Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) Word Learning and Delayed Recall, Animal Fluency (AF) test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Of participants who completed at least one cognitive test (n=3123), 44% had an impaired score for at least one test and were considered cognitively impaired (48.8% males, 40.2% females; p=0.0002). Within each BMI category, 58.6% of underweight participants were cognitively impaired, compared to 43.4% normal, 45.4% overweight, and 41.7% obese (p=0.09). Among race/ethnicity, only 38.7% of the Non-Hispanic White sample showed cognitive impairment, compared to 60-66.5% of other self-identified ethnicities (p<0.0001), suggesting possible cultural biases of the assessment tools. When compared to other educational levels, higher educational attainment (college graduate or higher: 29% impaired) was associated with a lower prevalence of impaired cognitive ability (Less than high school (77%), high school grad or equivalent/ GED (50%), some college (37%); p<0.0001). In conclusion, while differences in sex, race/ethnicity and educational attainment were associated with differences in the prevalence of impaired cognitive ability, there was no significant effect of BMI category.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2021/CEPS/26