Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Dementia Among Older Blacks May Be Overestimated
- Elderly African Americans may suffer slightly higher rates of dementia than whites, but these estimations may be flawed because past research has failed to take patients' education levels into account when diagnosing them with dementia, Yale researchers report. Tests that determine dementia have often failed to factor in education levels, possibly diagnosing African Americans as having dementia who in reality may simply be severely undereducated, the report indicates. Co-author Dr. Sidney Bogardus, assistant professor of geriatrics at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, told Reuters Health, "A lot of the strands of evidence point to differences in education, not just the amount, but also the quality. You can't take two people with different education levels and give them a test and have the test mean the same things." There is evidence that, overall, blacks were more likely to suffer dementia caused by tiny strokes accumulating over time, also known as vascular dementia. Whites were more likely to suffer dementia as a result of diseases such as AD and Parkinson's. By Melissa Schorr Reuters Health 6/6/01 Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2001;49:477-484.