Race and Personal Exposure to AD Influence Projected Memory Failure Attributions and Help-Seeking Behaviors

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Examine race and personal exposure to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) on projected memory failure attributions and medical help-seeking thresholds of pre-morbid adults. The goal is to better understand race discrepancies in help-seeking for those potentially at risk for early-onset AD.

Methods

498 adults aged 40 to 65 (M = 52.27), screened for current memory failure, completed an online questionnaire exploring their help-seeking intentions and threshold, attributions of hypothetical memory failures, and level of AD concern.

Results

Non-Hispanic Whites (n = 248) were significantly more concerned about AD than African Americans (n = 250) (p =.027). Personal exposure to AD moderated the impact of race on memory failure attributions (p =.036), so that personal exposure was more influential for African Americans. Those who were more likely to attribute hypothetical memory failures to AD had lower projected thresholds for seeking a medical evaluation (p =.010). Memory failure attribution emerged as a potential mediator of the impact of race on projected help-seeking behaviors (p =.057).

Conclusions

African Americans were more influenced by personal experience when considering the causes of hypothetical memory failures.

Clinical Implications

Healthcare providers should emphasize to African American families the value of early AD detection and treatment in terms of quality of life for both patient and caregiver.

KEYWORDS:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• racial disparities
• memory failure attribution
• help-seeking behavior
• dementia
• aging
• older adults

Clinical Implications

• Disseminate information about AD risk, the value of early AD detection, and treatment to African American families via family/cultural/religious channels that maximize cultural relevance. Modifiable risk factors disproportionately affecting African Americans, such as effective management of body weight, medical conditions, and stress, should be points of emphasis.

• Provide educational resources highlighting the key signs of AD, information about early-onset AD, and genetic risk factors associated with having a family member with AD, which may allow for earlier detection, and economic planning and connections with appropriate federal, state and local resources to help families better prepare for future care needs before they become catastrophic.

• Find a way to provide those without personal exposure to AD some connection to a person with AD that mimics that exposure. This could be through a well-produced video, a visiting speaker, or an engaging flier documenting personal stories of people with AD distributed through culturally relevant sources, such as church groups or targeted media.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by an internal grant funded by the University of Michigan-Dearborn. .