The role of education in the association between ethnicity/nativity and dementia among older Asian American adults

Education is known to lower dementia risk; however, several social factors may hinder educational attainment across different sociodemographic groups.
Electronic health records of Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese individuals (n=14,749, mean age 70.6 years) without dementia at baseline was used to assess the relationship between education and dementia incidence. Only 47% of individuals attained an education, and those with a degree had lower dementia incidence (12%) compared to those without a degree. Moreover, there were no differences in results across ethnicity/nativity, except for non-United States Japanese individuals.
According to the authors, an educational degree is associated with lower dementia incidence regardless of ethnic/native group, but further analysis investigating the determinants of dementia in Asian American individuals is still needed.