Effect of social support on memory ageing of middle-aged and older cancer survivors: a marginal structural modelling approach.

Background: While social support is associated with better cognitive health among cancer-free individuals, this relationship is understudied among cancer survivors. We investigated whether overall social support before and after a cancer diagnosis is related to post-diagnosis memory ageing, overall and by sex/gender.

Methods: Data were from 2044 cancer survivors in the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n=1395) and English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA; n=649) from 2006 to 2018.

Ultrasound-Guided Percutaneous Cryoneurolysis for the Treatment of Pain following Traumatic Rib Fracture: A Randomized, Active-Controlled, Participant- and Observer-Masked Study.

Background: Traumatic rib fractures are associated with pain lasting weeks to months and a decreased ability to inspire deeply or cough to clear secretions. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cryoneurolysis involves reversibly ablating peripheral nerve(s) using exceptionally low temperature with a transdermal probe, resulting in a prolonged nerve block with a duration measured in months. We hypothesized that cryoneurolysis would improve analgesia and inspired volume following rib fracture.

Cross-national statistical harmonization of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale among older adults in China, England, India, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.

Objectives: We examined differential item functioning (DIF) of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) items by country and statistically harmonized common cross-national factor scores for the CES-D to aid further cross-national research.

Study Design And Setting: Data were from Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) studies in China (N = 9639), England (N = 1262), India (N = 4048), Mexico (N = 1918), South Africa (N = 631), and the United States (N = 3321). Multiple indicators, multiple causes models were estimated to test DIF in the CES-D items by country.

Childhood adversity and late-life cognitive and brain health in a diverse cohort.

Introduction: Childhood adversity harms neurodevelopment. Literature on late-life brain health is limited, and findings on late-life cognition are mixed.

Methods: Pooling data from Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) and Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) cohorts, we assessed the impact of childhood adversity (factor score from seven self-reported items) on (a) executive function and verbal memory decline using linear mixed effects models (n = 2447), (b) structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using linear regression (n = 618), and (c) amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) using generalized linear models (n = 331), all adjusting for early-life demographic and socioeconomic confounders.

Type II diabetes and cognitive function among older adults in India and China-results from Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol studies.

Objective: Type II diabetes is a recognized risk factor of declining cognitive function in high-income countries. However, there is limited research on this association across low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to examine and compare the relationship between type II diabetes and cognition amongst adults aged 60 years and older for two of the largest LMICs: India and China.

Interpersonal, Community, and Societal Stressors Mediate Black-White Memory Disparities.

Objectives: Structural racism creates contextual stressors that disproportionately affect Black, relative to White, older adults in the United States and may contribute to worse cognitive health. We examined the extent to which interpersonal, community, and societal stressors uniquely explain Black-White disparities in initial memory and memory change.

Methods: The sample included 14,199 non-Latino Black and White older adults (Mage = 68.

Effect of a cash transfer intervention on memory decline and dementia probability in older adults in rural South Africa.

Evidence on cash transfers as a population-level intervention to support healthy cognitive aging in low-income settings is sparse. We assessed the effect of a cash transfer intervention on cognitive aging outcomes in older South African adults. We leveraged the overlap in the sampling frames of a Phase 3 randomized cash transfer trial [HIV Prevention Trial Network (HPTN) 068, 2011-2015] and an aging cohort [Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI), 2014-2022] in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.

Life course financial mobility and later-life memory function and decline by gender, and race and ethnicity: an intersectional analysis of the US KHANDLE and STAR cohort studies.

Background: Intersectionality has rarely been considered in research studies of cognitive ageing. We investigated whether life-course financial mobility is differentially associated with later-life memory function and decline across intersectional identities defined by gender, and race and ethnicity.

Methods: Data were from two harmonised multiethnic cohorts (the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences cohort and the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans cohort) in northern California, USA (n=2340).

DNA Methylation Age Acceleration Mediates the Relationship between Systemic Inflammation and Cognitive Impairment.

Background: Chronic inflammation and DNA methylation are potential mechanisms in dementia etiology. The linkage between inflammation and DNA methylation age acceleration in shaping dementia risk is understudied. We explored the association of inflammatory cytokines with cognitive impairment and whether DNA methylation age acceleration mediates this relationship.

Impact of the South African Child Support Grant on memory decline and dementia probability in rural and low-income mothers, 2014-2021.

Introduction: Aging populations across sub-Saharan Africa are rapidly expanding, leading to an increase in the burden of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Cash transfer interventions are one plausible mechanism to combat ADRD at a population-level in low-income settings. We exploited exogenous variation in eligibility for South Africa's Child Support Grant (CSG) to estimate the longitudinal association between potential CSG benefit and cognitive trajectories in rural mothers with <10 children (n = 1090).

Could differential under-reporting of loneliness between men and women bias the gender-specific association between loneliness duration and rate of memory decline? A probabilistic bias analysis of effect modification.

Gender is an observed effect modifier of the association between loneliness and memory aging. However, this effect modification may be a result of information bias due to differential loneliness under-reporting by gender. We applied probabilistic bias analyses to examine whether effect modification of the loneliness-memory decline relationship by gender is retained under three simulation scenarios with various magnitudes of differential loneliness under-reporting between men and women.

Altered place engagement since COVID-19: A multi-method study of community participation and health among older americans.

Little is known about longer-term changes to community participation since the COVID-19 pandemic onset and potential implications for health and wellbeing in later life. This multi-method investigation analyzes national data from the COVID-19 Coping Study. Statistical analyses of survey data ( = 1,630; mean age 67.

Mid-Life Household Food Insecurity and Subsequent Memory Function and Rate of Decline in Rural South Africa, 2004-2022.

Introduction: We aimed to investigate mid-life food insecurity over time in relation to subsequent memory function and rate of decline in Agincourt, rural South Africa.

Methods: Data from the longitudinal Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System (Agincourt HDSS) were linked to the population-representative Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI). Food insecurity (yes vs.

Kinetic Modeling and Techno-Economic Analysis of a Methanol-to-Gasoline Production Repurposed Refinery Equipment.

Methanol-to-gasoline (MtG) is an alternative process for the production of liquid fuel that involves the conversion of methanol into light and heavy hydrocarbons. The attractiveness of this option relies on multiple feedstocks that can be used to produce methanol, which can impact the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in comparison to petroleum-based feedstocks. However, one of the challenges of this alternative gasoline production is its high investment cost.

The association of pre-cancer diagnosis cardiovascular risk factors with memory aging after a cancer diagnosis, overall and by race/ethnicity.

Purpose: Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) are associated with increased risk for cognitive impairment and decline in the general population, but less is known about how CVRFs might influence cognitive aging among older cancer survivors. We aimed to determine how CVRFs prior to a cancer diagnosis affect post-cancer diagnosis memory aging, compared to cancer-free adults, and by race/ethnicity.

Methods: Incident cancer diagnoses and memory (immediate and delayed recall) were assessed biennially in the US Health and Retirement Study (N = 5,736, 1998-2018).

Does Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Alter Memory Change Associated with a Cancer Diagnosis? Preliminary Evidence from the US Health and Retirement Study.

Background: Neighborhood disadvantage has been linked to cognitive impairment, but little is known about the effect of neighborhood disadvantage on long-term cancer-related memory decline.

Methods: Incident cancer diagnosis and memory (immediate and delayed recall, combined with proxy-reported memory) were assessed at biennial interviews in the US Health and Retirement Study (N = 13,293, 1998-2016). Neighborhood disadvantage was measured using the National Neighborhood Data Archive disadvantage index, categorized into tertiles (T1: least disadvantaged-T3: most disadvantaged).

The Impact of the Older Person's Grant Expansion on Hypertension Among Older Men in Rural South Africa: Findings From the HAALSI Cohort.

Background And Objectives: Hypertension is a major modifiable contributor to disease burden in sub-Saharan Africa. We exploited an expansion to age eligibility for men in South Africa's noncontributory public pension to assess the impact of pension eligibility on hypertension in a rural, low-income South African setting.

Research Design And Methods: Data were from 1 247 men aged ≥60 in the population-representative Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa in 2014/2015.

The Impact of Old Age Pension Eligibility on Alcohol Consumption: Evidence From a Population-Based Study in Rural South Africa.

Background And Objectives: Alcohol causes more than 3 million deaths a year globally and contributes to over 5% of global disease and injury. Heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders among older adults have increased in the last 10-15 years. For individuals living in low-income countries, where wages are low and unemployment is high, old age pensions may provide a significant increase in household income.

Child support grant expansion and cognitive function among women in rural South Africa: Findings from a natural experiment in the HAALSI cohort.

Background: Cash transfers are a promising but understudied intervention that may protect cognitive function in adults. Although South Africa has a rapidly ageing population, little is known about the nature of association between cash transfers and cognitive function in this setting.

Objectives: We leveraged age-eligibility expansions to South Africa's Child Support Grant (CSG) to investigate the association between duration of CSG eligibility and cognitive function of biological mothers of child beneficiaries in South Africa.

Mid-life employment trajectories and subsequent memory function and rate of decline in rural South Africa, 2000-22.

Aim: To investigate mid-life employment trajectories in relation to later-life memory function and rate of decline in rural South Africa.

Methods: Data from the Agincourt Health and Socio-Demographic Surveillance System were linked to the 'Health and Ageing in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa' (HAALSI) in rural Agincourt, South Africa (N = 3133). Employment was assessed every 4 years over 2000-12 as being employed (0, 1, 2 and ≥3 time points), being employed in a higher-skill occupation (0, 1, 2 and ≥3 time points) and dynamic employment trajectories identified using sequence analysis.