APOE-ε4 carriership and dementia risk over 10 years among Asian American and White older adults.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Non-randomized longitudinal cohort study
PubMed 42427166 · doi:10.1002/alz.71615
What was done
This longitudinal cohort study examined the association between APOE-ε4 carriership and 10-year dementia risk among 1,078 Chinese, 843 Japanese, 583 Filipino, and 43,821 non-Latino White older adults (mean baseline age 70 years) in California from the Genetic Epidemiology Research in Adult Health and Aging cohort. Dementia was identified via electronic health records, and associations were estimated using pooled logistic regression.
What was found
APOE-ε4 prevalence ranged from 14% among Filipino to 25% among non-Latino White participants. APOE-ε4 carriership was associated with higher dementia risk across groups, with 10-year risk ratios (95% confidence interval) ranging from 1.59 (0.66-3.10) in Filipino to 1.96 (1.36-2.78) in Japanese participants. Specific numerical risk ratios for Chinese and non-Latino White participants were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
This study provides comparative evidence on APOE-ε4 dementia risk in Asian American subgroups, showing risk elevations generally consistent with those seen in White populations despite lower carrier prevalence.
Limits
Subgroup sample sizes for Asian Americans were substantially smaller than the White cohort, yielding wide confidence intervals that crossed the null in Filipino participants. Dementia ascertainment relied on electronic health records without independent standardized clinical adjudication.
Cited by
- supports Between 20% and 25% of Americans carry the APOE4 allele.