Race and Personal Exposure to AD Influence Projected Memory Failure Attributions and Help-Seeking Behaviors.
Objective: 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).Conclusion: 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.
['Mills|Marisa S|MS|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-2192', 'Whitehead|Brenda R|BR|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-6537', 'Howells Wrobel|Nancy|N|']
memory failure attribution help-seeking behavior aging Alzheimer’s disease dementia older adults racial disparities