Perceived risk of Alzheimer's disease: Insights into the Black and African American male perspective

Abstract

Background Non-Hispanic Black and African American men are more likely to have Alzheimer's disease (AD) than non-Hispanic White peers. Despite this, little is known about how Black and African American men perceive dementia risk, which is foundational to prevention. Objective Acknowledging that personal vantage point influences behavior, our study examined Black and African American male perceptions about their anticipated risk for AD. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of Black and African American adult male responses to the Recruitment Innovations for Diversity Enhancement electronic survey study. We examined associations between perceived risk of AD and age, education, employment status, household income adequacy, marital status, living status, prior experience with AD, and subjective memory performance using generalized linear models. Results Respondents ( n  = 112) were age 18 to 79 years ( M  = 51.05, SD  = 13.44), and 35% reported prior experience with AD through a friend or family member. Respondents’ perceived risk of developing AD ranged from 0 to 100% ( M  = 33.46, SD  = 28.29). Spearman rho correlations revealed modest but significant correlations between perceived risk and age (r = 21, p = 0.03) and marital status (r = -0.22 p = 0.02). The best fitting generalized linear model revealed low perceived risk for AD was associated with younger age, income adequacy and being married or living as married (χ 2  = 8.76, p  = 0.03). Conclusion Selected social determinants of health were associated with perceived risk. Future studies should examine additional social determinants of health (e.g., social and physical environment) and measures of cognitive and physical health to further explore relationships with perceived risk of AD in Black and African American males.