Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-12-2021
Abstract
Background
Whether racial/ethnic disparities in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk may be explained by ambient fine particles (PM2.5) has not been studied.
Methods
We conducted a prospective, population-based study on a cohort of Black (n=481) and White (n=6004) older women (aged 65-79) without dementia at enrollment (1995-98). Cox models accounting for competing risk were used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for racial/ethnic disparities in AD (1996-2010) defined by DSM-IV and the association with time-varying annual average PM2.5 (1999-2010) estimated by spatiotemporal model.
Results
Over an average follow-up of 8.3 (±3.5) years with 158 incident cases (21 in Black women), the racial disparities in AD risk (range of adjusted HRBlack women = 1.85-2.41) observed in various models could not be explained by geographic region, age, socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle factors, cardiovascular risk factors, and hormone therapy assignment. Estimated PM2.5 exposure was higher in Black (14.38±2.21 µg/m 3) than in White (12.55±2.76 µg/m 3) women, and further adjustment for the association between PM2.5 and AD (adjusted HRPM2.5 = 1.18-1.28) slightly reduced the racial disparities by 2-6% (HRBlack women = 1.81-2.26). The observed association between PM2.5 and AD risk was ~2 times greater in Black (HRPM2.5 = 2.10-2.60) than in White (HRPM2.5 = 1.07-1.15) women (range of interaction Ps: Conclusions
PM2.5 may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in AD risk and its associated increase in AD risk was stronger amongst Black women.
Recommended Citation
Diana Younan, PhD, MPH, Xinhui Wang, PhD, Tara Gruenewald, PhD, MPH, MA, Margaret Gatz, PhD, Marc L Serre, PhD, William Vizuete, PhD, MS, Meredith N Braskie, PhD, Nancy F Woods, PhD, RN, FAAN, Ka Kahe, MD, ScD, MPH, Lorena Garcia, DrPH, MPH, Fred Lurmann, MS, JoAnn E Manson, MD, DrPH, Helena C Chui, MD, Robert B Wallace, MD, MSc, Mark A Espeland, PhD, MA, Jiu-Chiuan Chen, MD, ScD, Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease Risk: Role of Exposure to Ambient Fine Particles, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 77, Issue 5, May 2022, Pages 977–985, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab231
Copyright
The authors
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, volume 77, issue 5, in 2022 following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab231.