| Author | |
|---|---|
| Keywords | |
| Abstract |
<p><b>INTRODUCTION: </b>Studies suggest bilingualism may delay behavioral manifestations of adverse cognitive aging including Alzheimer's dementia.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>Three thousand nine hundred sixty-three participants (unweighted mean population age ≈56 years) at Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos baseline (2008-2011) self-reported their and their parents' birth outside the United States, Spanish as their first language, and used Spanish for baseline and comparable cognitive testing 7 years later (2015-2018). Spanish/English language proficiency and patterns of use were self-rated from 1 = only Spanish to 4 = English > Spanish. Cognitive testing included test-specific and global composite score(s) of verbal learning, memory, word fluency, and Digit Symbol Substitution (DSS). Survey linear regression models examined associations between baseline bilingualism scores and cognition.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Higher second-language (English) proficiency and use were associated with higher global cognition, fluency, and DSS at follow-up and better than predicted change in fluency.</p><p><b>DISCUSSION: </b>The bilingual experience was more consistently related to 7-year level versus change in cognition for Hispanics/Latinos.</p> |
| Year of Publication |
2023
|
| Journal |
Alzheimers Dement
|
| Volume |
19
|
| Issue |
3
|
| Number of Pages |
875-883
|
| Date Published |
2023 Mar
|
| ISSN Number |
1552-5279
|
| DOI |
10.1002/alz.12703
|
| Alternate Journal |
Alzheimers Dement
|
| PMID |
35768881
|
| Download citation |