Racial and ethnic differences in trends in dementia prevalence and risk factors in the United States.

Introduction: Disparities in dementia prevalence across racial/ethnic groups in the United States may not be narrowing over time.

Methods: Data from Health and Retirement Study (2000 to 2012) were analyzed. Dementia was ascertained based on cognitive, functional measures. Logistic regression was used to quantify association between dementia and risk factors, including chronic conditions, use of drug treatment for them, separately for whites, blacks, and Hispanics.

Results: Disparities in dementia prevalence declined between blacks and whites and increased between Hispanics and whites. Adjusting for risk factors reduced but did not eliminate disparities. Compared to no hypertension, untreated hypertension was associated with increased risk of dementia for all racial/ethnic groups while treated hypertension was associated with reduced risk for whites. Diabetes treated with oral drugs was not associated with increased dementia risk.

Discussion: Racial disparities in dementia may be reduced by prevention and management of disease and promoting educational attainment among blacks and Hispanics.