Introduction: Residence in a disadvantaged neighborhood associates with adverse health exposures and outcomes, and may increase risk for cognitive impairment and dementia. Utilization of a publicly available, geocoded disadvantage metric could facilitate efficient integration of social determinants of health into models of cognitive aging.
Methods: Using the validated Area Deprivation Index and two cognitive aging cohorts, we quantified Census block-level poverty, education, housing, and employment characteristics for the neighborhoods of 2119 older adults. We assessed relationships between neighborhood disadvantage and cognitive performance in domains sensitive to age-related change.
Results: Participants in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods (n = 156) were younger, more often female, and less often college-educated or white than those in less disadvantaged neighborhoods (n = 1963). Disadvantaged neighborhood residence associated with poorer performance on tests of executive function, verbal learning, and memory.
Discussion: This geospatial metric of neighborhood disadvantage may be valuable for exploring socially rooted risk mechanisms, and prioritizing high-risk communities for research recruitment and intervention.
Keywords: cognition; cognitive aging; dementia; disparities; neighborhood disadvantage; social determinants.
© 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.