ArticleThe Gerontologist2025
The Intersecting Effects of Lifetime Experiences of Homelessness and Incarceration on Cognitive Aging and Dementia Risk Factors in the United States.
Article in The Gerontologist, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence and Risk of Dementia Among Adults Who Have Experienced Homelessness, a Meta-Analysis.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring Social Determinants of Cognitive Functioning: History of Criminal Legal System Involvement and Processing Speed among Older Black Americans.Sociological focus · 2026Article
- Cognitive Aging in the Context of the Housing Crisis: Trends and Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study.Canadian studies in population · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesAlzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) remain a pressing concern in the United States, which also has one of the highest incarceration rates worldwide. Existing research has analyzed dementia risk and care among currently incarcerated and homeless populations; this paper fills a gap by examining later-life cognitive disparities facing formerly incarcerated and/or homeless individuals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsUsing Health and Retirement Study data (1998-2018), we tested whether formerly homeless and/or incarcerated people had earlier onset of cognitive decline, and whether they were more likely to have modifiable risk factors for ADRD than those without such experiences. We estimated prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, and self-reported ADRD diagnosis. We also used repeated observations of cognitive functioning coupled with nested nonlinear regression to examine the onset of accelerated cognitive decline.
resultsAdjusting for demographic variables, formerly homeless and/or incarcerated participants have increased odds of having risk factors for dementia, including smoking, drinking alcohol, depression, mental illness, and discrimination from healthcare providers and police. Diagnosis of MCI and ADRD were more common among participants reporting a history of incarceration or homelessness. Nested nonlinear regression revealed that previous experiences of incarceration or homelessness-alone or together-are associated with earlier onset of accelerated cognitive decline compared with those who experienced neither. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study suggests that, even if they occur earlier in life, homelessness and incarceration experiences may increase risk of poorer cognitive health in late life. Future work is warranted to understand the lifelong consequences linked to this adversity.
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