Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39271152›Full record

ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2024

Racial Differences in the Association Between Loneliness and Cognitive Impairment Among Older Black and White Men.

Bettina M Beech, Marino A Bruce, Ankita Siddhanta, Gillian L Marshall, Keith E Whitfield, Roland J Thorpe

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Cumulative loneliness and memory function among U.S. older adults: the role of depressive symptoms.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Bettina M BeechUH Population Health, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Marino A BruceUH Population Health, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0643-1640
Ankita SiddhantaUH Population Health, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
Gillian L MarshallDynamic and Innovative Research Solutions, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Keith E WhitfieldOffice of the President, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Roland J ThorpeProgram for Research on Men's Health, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Funding

Why Place MattersU54MD000214 · NIMHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI GASKIN, DARRELL J. · 2017 to 2022
$8.8M
The Johns Hopkins Alzheimer's Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research - Research Ed ComponentP30AG059298 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Quincy Miles Samus · 2018 to 2026
$7.1M
Stress and Mortality Among Black MenK02AG059140 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI THORPE, ROLAND J. · 2018 to 2022
$1.1M
NIA NIH HHS K02 AG059140NIA NIH HHS P30 AG059298NIH HHS K02AG059140-08S1NIMHD NIH HHS U54 MD000214NIMHD NIH HHS U54MD000214
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLoneliness is a biopsychosocial stressor linked to poor health outcomes including dementia. Few studies have focused on this association among men and even fewer have examined racial disparities in loneliness and cognitive functioning among this group. The purpose of this study was to examine racial differences in the association between loneliness and cognitive functioning among men in the 2016 wave of the Health and Retirement Study.

methodsThis cross-sectional study included Black and White men who completed the core questionnaire and the Leave Behind Questionnaire (n = 2 227). Any cognitive impairment was the primary outcome and was measured by a dichotomous variable derived from a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status. Loneliness was the primary independent variable and was derived from the 3-item University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Modified Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were estimated to generate prevalence ratios (PRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

resultsBlack men comprised 18.4% of the study sample; however, the proportion of this group with scores indicating cognitive impairment (35.9%) doubled the corresponding percentage of white men (17.6%). Findings from race-stratified modified Poisson regression models indicated that loneliness was associated with a higher prevalence of any cognitive impairment for White men (PR = 1.24, CI: 1.05-1.47), but not for Black men (PR = 0.92, CI: 0.73-1.16).

conclusionsOur results underscore the complexity of race when investigating the association between loneliness and cognitive impairment among older men. Additional studies are needed to further examine how loneliness may have racially distinct implications for cognitive outcomes among the population.

Indexed as

Black or African AmericanCognitive DysfunctionLonelinessWhiteAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited StatesCognitive impairmentHealth disparitiesLonelinessMen’s healthMinority health

Identifiers

PMID39271152
PMCPMC11525484

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.