Gendered racial differences and similarities in subjective cognitive decline and life satisfaction: results from a population-based sample

Abstract

Objective

The objectives of this study were to: 1) Determine the association between subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and life satisfaction; and 2) Assess the gendered racial/ethnic disparities in the association between SCD and life satisfaction.

Method

Data were obtained from 3,795 participants from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. SCD was operationalized by “During the past 12 months, have you experienced confusion or memory loss that is happening more often or is getting worse?” Life satisfaction was operationalized by the question “In general how satisfied are you with your life?” Interaction terms of SCD*sex, SCD*race/ethnicity, and SCD*sex*race/ethnicity were used to determine potential effect measure modification. Crude and adjusted linear regression models, controlling for age, education, income and employment, were used to assess the association between SCD and life satisfaction by sex, race, and by gendered racial/ethnic groups: Black women, White women, Hispanic women, Other women; and Black men, White men, Hispanic men and Other men.

Results

SCD was negatively associated with life satisfaction in the overall sample (β: −0.55; 95% CI: −0.66, −0.43). However, the negative associations seen across gender, race/ethnicity, and gendered racial/ethnic groups were statistically similar (p for interaction terms > 0.05). The highest effect estimate was seen for Other men (β: −1.22; 95% CI: −1.37, −1.09).

Conclusion

Interventions geared towards improving cognition may improve life satisfaction for all groups, irrespective of gender and/or race/ethnicity. Future research may include longitudinal studies to determine the temporal sequence between SCD and life satisfaction.

Keywords:

• Quality of life/wellbeing
• epidemiology (mental health
• )
• cognitive functioning
• disparities
• race/ethnicity

Disclosure statement

The authors report no real or perceived vested interests that relate to this article (including relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, grantors, or other entities whose products or services are related to topics covered in this manuscript) that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K01MH115794. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.