Neighborhood disadvantage and dementia incidence in a cohort of Asian American and non‐Latino White older adults in Northern California

Introduction Some evidence suggests that neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with dementia‐related outcomes. However, prior research is predominantly among non‐Latino Whites. Methods We evaluated the association between neighborhood disadvantage (Area Deprivation Index [ADI]) and dementia incidence in Asian American (n = 18,103) and non‐Latino White (n = 149,385) members of a Northern California integrated health care delivery system aged 60 to 89 at baseline. Race/ethnicity‐specific Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for individual‐level age, sex, socioeconomic measures, and block group population density estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia. Results Among non‐Latino Whites, ADI was associated with dementia incidence (most vs. least disadvantaged ADI quintile HR = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02–1.15). Among Asian Americans, associations were close to null (e.g., most vs. least disadvantaged ADI quintile HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.85–1.21). Discussion ADI was associated with dementia incidence among non‐Latino Whites but not Asian Americans. Understanding the potentially different mechanisms driving dementia incidence in these groups could inform dementia prevention efforts.