Memory Loss, Dementia an Understudied Yet Widespread Phenomenon Among Chinese Americans

Studies published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society noted the U.S. Chinese population is rapidly aging, with memory loss and dementia major problems in this demographic, reports Medical Xpress . The Chinese American population that is 65 and older expanded at a four times higher rate than the overall U.S. senior population between 2000 and 2010, and 14 percent of the approximately four million Chinese Americans were 65 and older by 2016. Analyses revealed that older Chinese American women have higher rates of cognitive impairment, which is associated with depression, chronic conditions, and disability. Moreover, lower education levels raise the risk of cognitive impairment, and problems performing functional and instrumental activities of daily living are predictive of this risk. Chinese Americans who endure increased stressors from linguistic and cultural difficulties exhibit poorer cognitive functioning and faster cognitive decline, while 41.5 percent of Asian Americans reported not receiving yearly oral health examinations, which is tied to decreased quality of life, depression, hypertension, poor cognition, and cognitive decline. "A thorough understanding of Chinese Americans' cognitive risk factors is necessary to guide the development of policy and interventions to delay the onset of memory loss," concluded Rutgers University's XinQi Dong.