A - 38 Variance in Educational Experiences among Older Adults Enrolled in an Alzheimer’s Disease Research Cohort

• Published in: Archives of clinical neuropsychology 2023-10, Vol.38 (7), p.1199-1199
• Main Authors: Stites, Shana D, Halberstadter, Kimberly, Schumann, Rosalie, Patel, Nisha, Mechanic-Hamilton, Dawn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1873-5843; 1873-5843
• DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acad067.055

Abstract Objective In the United States (U.S.), educational experiences can be wide-ranging. We examine educational experiences in an Alzheimer’s disease (ad) research cohort to understand how the representation and distribution of these experiences may affect the generalizability of conclusions in ad research. Method An online survey was administered to cognitively unimpaired participants (n = 135) in the UPenn ad Research Center clinical cohort. Self-report questionnaires gather sociodemographic data, including age, race, disability, education, and schooling. We report comparisons to U.S. educational attainment and examine correlations between education variables and executive function as measured by trail making test (TMT) B and digit span backward. Results The sample of 135 older adults averaged 74 years old, had about 17 years of schooling, and were mostly women (61%). All had at least a high school degree. About 11% had a high school diploma, about 8% had an associate’s degree, 24% had a 4-year college degree, 33% had a master’s degree, and over 20% had professional degrees. The distribution of educational attainment is not representative of the U.S. older adult population. More education associates with higher performance on TMT-B and digit span (both p