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Regular Research Article| Volume 29, ISSUE 10, P1062-1073, October 2021

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Cognitive Impairment in Older Incarcerated Males: Education and Race Considerations

      HIghlights

      • Improved understanding of the burden of cognitive impairment among the growing population of older incarcerated persons is important. We evaluated impairments in global cognition (MoCA), as well as processing speed and set shifting (Trails A & B), in 239 racially diverse, incarcerated males age ≥50 years. Cognitive impairment is common in older incarcerated persons, despite applying education- and race-specific norms. Notable race differences highlight need for validated assessments for this diverse population.

      ABSTRACT

      Objective

      Assess cognitive impairment (global cognition and executive functioning) in older incarcerated males overall, and according to education and race.

      Design

      Cross-sectional

      Participants

      The sample included 239 racially diverse (37.7% White, 41.4% Black, 20.9% Hispanic/Other) incarcerated males age ≥50 (mean age = 56.4 ± 6.1; range 50–79 years).

      Measurements

      Global cognitive impairment assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) − standard MoCA scoring (1-point adjustment for ≤12 years education, and score <26 indicating cognitive impairment) versus education- and race-specific cutpoints. Trail Making Test (TMT) assessed executive functioning. The relationship between race and cognitive impairment was evaluated using Chi-Square, One-Way ANOVA, and Tukey's HSD post-hoc analyses. Chi-Square was also used to evaluate the relationship between race and frequency of missed MoCA items.

      Results

      Average MoCA score was 24.12 ± 3.38. Overall, 62.8% and 38.5% of participants met criteria for cognitive impairment using standard scoring and education- and race-specific cutpoints, respectively. This difference was largely attributed to the change in proportion of Blacks who met criteria for cognitive impairment after applying education- and race-specific cutpoints (62.6% versus 19.2%). Fewer White inmates were impaired (51.1% versus 36.7%) after applying demographically-adjusted norms; however, the proportion of Hispanics/Others remained largely unchanged (84% versus 80%). A considerable proportion of participants were mildly impaired on TMT-A (18.2% Whites, 7.1% Blacks) and TMT-B (20.5% Whites, 4.1% Blacks). Race differences were observed in missed MoCA items.

      Conclusions

      Cognitive impairment is common in older incarcerated persons, despite applying education- and race-specific norms. Notable race differences highlight need for validated assessments for this diverse population.

      Key Words

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