Expanding the scope of health disparities research in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Abstract

Topics discussed at the “ Leveraging Existing Data and Analytic Methods for Health Disparities Research Related to Aging and Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias ” workshop, held by Duke University and the Alzheimer's Association with support from the National Institute on Aging, are summarized.  Ways in which existing data resources paired with innovative applications of both novel and well‐known methodologies can be used to identify the effects of multi‐level societal, community, and individual determinants of race/ethnicity, sex, and geography‐related health disparities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementia are proposed.  Current literature on the population analyses of these health disparities is summarized with a focus on identifying existing gaps in knowledge, and ways to mitigate these gaps using data/method combinations are discussed at the workshop.  Substantive and methodological directions of future research capable of advancing health disparities research related to aging are formulated.