Characteristics of Cognitively Normal Mexican-Americans with Cognitive Complaints

Abstract

Background: Subjective cognitive complaints in cognitively normal adults have been linked to later cognitive decline and dementia. Research on the characteristics of this group has been conducted on a variety of clinical and community-based populations. The current study focuses on the rapidly expanding population of Mexican-American elders.

Objective: The objective of the study is the determination of characteristics of cognitively normal Mexican-Americans with cognitive complaints.

Methods: Data on 319 cognitively normal participants in a large-scale community-based study of elderly Mexican-Americans (HABLE) were analyzed comparing those with cognitive complaints with those without on clinical characteristics, affective status, neuropsychological functioning, and proteomic markers.

Results: Those expressing concern about cognitive decline scored lower on the MMSE, were more likely to have significantly more affective symptoms, higher levels of diabetic markers, poorer performance on attention and executive functioning, and a different pattern of inflammatory markers.

Conclusion: Although longitudinal research is needed to determine the impact of these differences on later cognition, possible targets for early intervention with Mexican-Americans were identified.

Keywords: Affective symptoms; Mexican-Americans; biomarkers; subjective cognitive complaints.