Neighborhood socioeconomic status and environmental burden show diverging associations with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults
- 1Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University
Abstract
STRUCTURED ABSTRACTO_ST_ABSOBJECTIVEC_ST_ABSResearch on neighborhood context and cognitive health often relies on composite indices that collapse neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and aspects of the built environment into a single score. This study examined the extent to which neighborhood SES and built environment were associated with late-life cognitive impairment.
METHODParticipants were 281 predominantly Black older adults who completed the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE), a brief cognitive screening measure. Participants also provided their home address to obtain four neighborhood metrics: Two composite measures of neighborhood disadvantage, the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) and the EJI Social-Environmental Rank, as well as the EJI Social Vulnerability Rank as a measure of neighborhood SES, and the EJI Environmental Burden Rank to measure exposure to hazardous aspects of the built environment.
RESULTSLower neighborhood SES was associated with higher odds of cognitive impairment. In contrast, greater environmental burden was associated with lower odds of impairment, with years of education as a moderator; the association was strongest among individuals with high levels of education. The two composite scores were not associated with cognitive impairment.
CONCLUSIONComposite measures of neighborhood features may obscure distinct pathways of their effects on cognition.
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BibTeX
@misc{bonta2026neighborhood,
title = {{Neighborhood socioeconomic status and environmental burden show diverging associations with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults}},
author = {K. M. Bonta and E. Corbett and M. K. Alemu and B. D. Darge and L. K. HIlderbrand and K. A. Richardson and S. S. Ogonuwe and I. M. Blum and K. Shen and M. K. McGuire and D. H. Pandhi and L. W. Gallagher and J. M. Hunter and F. Grant and W. Simmons and L. Davis and P. Shields and S. Cooper and M. Rouse and K. S. Wilson-Lawson and C. Hughes-Culp and M. Howard and M. Monroe and M. Coleman and D. Leath and J. Butsch and N. Davis and J. Henry and P. Gregory and D. Scharre and J. G. Grant},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.13.26365488},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.13.26365488v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Neighborhood socioeconomic status and environmental burden show diverging associations with cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults
AU - K. M. Bonta
AU - E. Corbett
AU - M. K. Alemu
AU - B. D. Darge
AU - L. K. HIlderbrand
AU - K. A. Richardson
AU - S. S. Ogonuwe
AU - I. M. Blum
AU - K. Shen
AU - M. K. McGuire
AU - D. H. Pandhi
AU - L. W. Gallagher
AU - J. M. Hunter
AU - F. Grant
AU - W. Simmons
AU - L. Davis
AU - P. Shields
AU - S. Cooper
AU - M. Rouse
AU - K. S. Wilson-Lawson
AU - C. Hughes-Culp
AU - M. Howard
AU - M. Monroe
AU - M. Coleman
AU - D. Leath
AU - J. Butsch
AU - N. Davis
AU - J. Henry
AU - P. Gregory
AU - D. Scharre
AU - J. G. Grant
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.13.26365488
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.13.26365488v1
AB - STRUCTURED ABSTRACTO_ST_ABSOBJECTIVEC_ST_ABSResearch on neighborhood context and cognitive health often relies on composite indices that collapse neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and aspects of the built environment into a single score. This study examined the extent to which neighborhood SES and built environment were associated with late-life cognitive impairment. METHODParticipants were 281 predominantly Black older adults who completed the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE), a brief cognitive screening measure. Participants also provided their home address to obtain four neighborhood metrics: Two composite measures of neighborhood disadvantage, the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) and the EJI Social-Environmental Rank, as well as the EJI Social Vulnerability Rank as a measure of neighborhood SES, and the EJI Environmental Burden Rank to measure exposure to hazardous aspects of the built environment. RESULTSLower neighborhood SES was associated with higher odds of cognitive impairment. In contrast, greater environmental burden was associated with lower odds of impairment, with years of education as a moderator; the association was strongest among individuals with high levels of education. The two composite scores were not associated with cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONComposite measures of neighborhood features may obscure distinct pathways of their effects on cognition.
ER -