Educational and Early Life Predictors of Mild Cognitive Impairment: New Evidence about Mediators and Moderators from High School & Beyond

University Of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT We propose a supplement to the award that supports the 2021 High School and Beyond (HSB) fieldwork that would add extraordinary administrative records about prescription drug histories. Specifically, we would obtain information about medications prescribed; exact dosages; whether, when, and how often prescriptions were filled; prescription compliance histories; the name, medical specialty, and exact location of the prescribing medical professional; exactly where prescriptions were filled; and the likely medical condition(s) for which medications were prescribed. Consistent with our funded Aims, the proposed supplemental activities will provide extraordinary insight into the ways in which social and biological processes across the life course mediate the effects of early life (especially educational) factors on later life cognitive functioning. Health information derived from pharmacy records— especially about the timing of pharmaceutical treatment for physical and mental conditions—will inform (a) our understanding of how cardiometabolic and other biological pathways shape cognitive functioning and (b) our interpretation of HSB sample members’ measured cognitive performance in the 2021 survey round. Specifically, we propose to link HSB records to pharmacy records for sample members who consented (Aim 1); construct useful summary measures from the pharmacy records (Aim 2); document the resulting summary measures (Aim 3); construct pharmacy record-specific sampling weights (Aim 4); and disseminate the new measures, weights, and documentation (Aim 5). All proposed supplemental activities would be completed by the end of the original five-year R01 budget period.