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Faculty Advisor

Cricel Molina de Mesa

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition primarily affecting older adults. It is a growing public health crisis that affects memory, thinking, and behavior. The number of adults aged 65 and older is projected to reach 98.2 million by 2060, leading to a continued rise in the prevalence of AD. Understanding the socioeconomic factors that influence health outcomes in patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) is essential in addressing the disparities within patient care and quality of life. This systematic review examined three socioeconomic factors - race/ethnicity, living arrangements, and access to healthcare - and their related health outcomes amongst older adults with ADRD in the United States. The systematic review identified studies that investigated the three aforementioned socioeconomic factors and health outcomes in older adults with ADRD. Our goal is not to categorize specific health outcomes within or across each selected socioeconomic factor. Instead, the focus is on the broader physical, economic, emotional, and psychological impacts of individuals facing barriers in race/ethnicity, living arrangements, and healthcare access. This includes health outcomes such as mortality, preventable hospital visits, schizophrenia diagnoses, and psychological distress. Findings indicate that socioeconomic factors play a role in influencing health outcomes among individuals with ADRD. These factors were selected as they encompass a broad range of challenges that individuals with ADRD may encounter. Currently, there is limited research on a standardized health outcome measure for patients with ADRD, such as activities of daily living (ADLs), which could serve as a baseline for comparison. As a result, health outcomes in this research vary across the three socioeconomic factors. However, despite this variability, it remains crucial to recognize how each health outcome impacts individuals with ADRD. Furthermore, each socioeconomic factor—living arrangements, access to healthcare, and race/ethnicity—encompasses various subcategories. For instance, access to healthcare can be assessed in multiple ways, including geographic landscape and insurance coverage. These subcategories may influence different health outcomes, such as the frequency of primary care visits, cognitive disease diagnoses, or access to specialized care, depending on the scope of the study. Ultimately, this review highlights the critical yet relatively underexplored influence of socioeconomic factors on the health outcomes of ADRD patients. It also emphasizes the need for a more standardized framework for comparing health outcomes, particularly given that individuals often fall into multiple socioeconomic categories.

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