Cultural contexts in neurodegenerative disorders: Exploring associations between living conditions, social factors, and biomarkers among Hispanic subgroups

Authors

Ismael Perez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Luis Pena Márquez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine
Cristian Botello, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
E. Alaniz, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
F. Dominguez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Mario Gil, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

3-2024

Abstract

Background: As of 2022, the Hispanic population represents the biggest minority group in the United States of America, accounting for 19% of the population (USA Census Bureau, 2023). Hispanics face many challenges, among them higher-than-average adverse health outcomes such as increased obesity, hypertension, neurodegenerative diseases, and poor healthcare access. Those who reside in institutions have an increased risk of developing adverse health outcomes. Social researchers have advocated that the Hispanic community would be better understood if they were studied as a subgroup instead of categorizing this community into one group (Weinick et al., 2004). The current study aims to describe the relationship between institutional living, tau biomarkers, and different adverse health outcomes among Hispanic subgroups.

Method: The present study will utilize data from +47,000 individuals in the NACC dataset to conduct a Kendal tau correlation analysis heatmap to describe the relationship between tau biomarkers, Hispanic subgroups, and the following adverse health outcomes: dementia, hypertension, diabetes, B12 deficiency, insomnia, alcohol, depression, anxiety, memory, orientation, depression severity, anxiety severity, and dementia.

Result: The results revealed that Mexicans had a higher correlation in comparison with other Hispanic subgroups for dementia (τb = .334, p

Conclusion: The NACC dataset provides valuable information of health outcomes of older adults in the United States of America. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the differences and similarities of Hispanic subgroups in the United States of America.

Comments

Permanent URL: https://perma.cc/E8B9-Z2GC

Recommended Citation

Perez, I., Márquez, L. P., Botello, C., Alaniz, E., Dominguez, F., Gil, M., & Alliey-Rodriguez, N. (2024, March). Cultural contexts in neurodegenerative disorders: Exploring associations between living conditions, social factors, and biomarkers among Hispanic subgroups. Society for Social Neuroscience 2024 annual meeting, Tsukuba, Japan.

Academic Level

faculty

Mentor/PI Department

Neuroscience