Cognition and Daily Functioning: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (SOL) and Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA).

BACKGROUND: Among older adults, poorer cognitive functioning has been associated with impairments in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). However, IADL impairments among older Hispanics/Latinos is poorly understood.OBJECTIVE: To characterize the relationships between cognition and risk for IADL impairment among diverse Hispanics/Latinos.METHODS: Participants included 6,292 community-dwelling adults from the Study of Latinos - Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging, an ancillary study of 45+ year-olds in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Cognitive data (learning, memory, executive functioning, processing speed, and a Global cognitive composite) were collected at Visit 1. IADL functioning was self-reported 7 years later, and treated as a categorical (i.e., risk) and continuous (i.e., degree) measures of impairment. Survey two-part models (mixture of logit and generalized linear model with Gaussian distribution) and ordered logistic regression tested the associations of cognitive performance (individual tests and composite z-score) with IADL impairment. Additionally, we investigated the moderating role of age, sex, and Hispanic/Latino background on the association between cognition and IADL impairment.RESULTS: Across all cognitive measures, poorer performance was associated with higher odds of IADL impairment 7 years later. Associations were generally stronger for the oldest group (70+ years) relative to the youngest group (50-59 years). Sex and Hispanic/Latino background did not modify the associations. Across the full sample, lower scores on learning, memory, and the Global cognitive composite were also associated with higher degree of IADL impairment.CONCLUSION: Across diverse Hispanics/Latinos, cognitive health is an important predictor of everyday functioning 7 years later, especially in older adulthood.