Ethnoracial Differences in Lewy Body Diseases with Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Background: Increasing research focuses on ethnic differences in Alzheimer’s disease, but such efforts in other neurodegenerative dementias are lacking. Currently, data on the ethnic profile of cognitively impaired persons with Lewy body disease (LBD) is limited, despite Lewy body dementia being the second most common neurodegenerative dementia. Objective: The study aimed to investigate presenting characteristics among ethnoracially diverse individuals with cognitive impairment secondary to LBD using the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center database. Methods: Participants self-identified as African American, Hispanic, or White. We used Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson χ2 analyses to investigate group differences in presenting characteristics and linear regression to compare neuropsychological test performance. Results: Presentation age was similar between groups (median 74–75 years). Compared to Whites (n = 1782), African Americans (n = 130) and Hispanics (n = 122) were more likely to be female and single, have less educational attainment, report more cardiovascular risk factors, describe less medication use, and perform worse on select cognitive tests. Hispanics reported more depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Cohorts differences highlight the need for population-based LBD studies with racial-ethnic diversity. Culturally-sensitive neuropsychological tests are needed to determine whether observed differences relate to cultural, social, testing, or disease-related factors. More research is needed regarding how social and biological factors impact LBD care among diverse populations.