Search

Objective: With advancements in medicine and technology, more people are surviving cancers. However, cancer mortality in Nigeria remains high. The yearly estimate is 72,000 cancer‐related deaths, making cancer one of the leading causes of death in Nigeria. The current study aimed to identify and synthesize factors that facilitate or hinder cancer survivorship in Nigeria and add to our understanding of the patterns of cancer survivorship in LMICs, such as Nigeria. Method: Following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta‐analyses guidelines, a systematic review was conducted across PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus databases. We identified 31 peer‐reviewed studies that examined cancer treatment, management, care, and survivorship in Nigeria. Results: Eight themes emerged from 31 peer‐reviewed studies that examined the factors that facilitate or hinder cancer survivorship among Nigerians. They include themes such as self‐care and management, treatment options, availability of pseudo‐doctors/pharmacists, and the desire to live. The themes were further grouped into three overarching themes: psychosocial, economic, and health care. Conclusion: Cancer survivors in Nigeria face many unique experiences that impact their health outcomes and chances of survivorship. Therefore, understanding cancer survivorship in Nigeria must involve studies on diagnosis, treatment, remission, surveillance, after‐cancer care, and end‐of‐life. With enhanced support, cancer survivors will have improved health, thereby reducing the cancer mortality rate in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A manifestation of coloniality in psychological science concerns the modern individualist lifeways that inform mainstream research. We report results of a multi‐method research project that investigated implications of these ways of being for the experience of love in Ghanaian settings. In particular, we investigated the hypothesis that engagement with Pentecostal Charismatic Churches (PCCs)—an important carrier of individualist lifeways in many West African settings—would be associated with a growth orientation to love as a means for mutual self‐expansion and fulfillment. In Study 1 (n = 61), growth themes and a conception of love as feeling were more evident, but sustainability themes and a conception of love as doing less evident, in interview responses of participants who reported engagement with PCCs versus Traditional Western Mission Churches (TWMCs). In Study 2 (n = 1120), family obligation, relationship harmony, and (among participants who reported daily church attendance) perception of a social norm to prioritize mother over spouse were weaker for members of PCCs than TWMCs. Results help to reveal the colonial dark side of the modern individualist lifeways that mainstream research tends to regard as a just‐natural standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked to subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in later life, which may be a precursor for Alzheimer's disease. However, studies examining the potential mechanisms between ACEs and SCD as well as the differential role that gender might play in these pathways are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess how gender influences the association between ACEs, depression and SCD. Method: Data were obtained from 14,630 respondents (6,254 men and 8,376 women) from the 2021 US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Trauma was operationalized as the experience of ACEs. A depression categorization was based on respondents' self‐report of ever being informed of having a depressive disorder. SCD was operationalized as respondents reporting having experienced increasing confusion or memory loss in the past 12 months. Crude and adjusted stratified path analyses using PROC CALIS were conducted to determine the direct and indirect associations between ACEs, depression, and SCD overall and by gender. Result: Preliminary analyses show that in the overall study population, respondents who reported experiencing ACEs were more likely to report depression (B = 0.165; p<0.0001) and those who reported a depression diagnosis were more likely to report SCD (B = 0.191; p<0.0001) in the past year. There was also a direct positive association between ACEs and SCD (B = 0.085, p<0.0001) where respondents with a history of ACEs were more likely to report SCD. Depression mediated the association between ACEs and SCD (B = 0.032; p<0.0001) Stratified path analyses showed similar findings for men and women where depression was a mediator in the relationship between ACEs and SCD (men: B = 0.025; p<0.0001; and women: B = 0.036; p<0.0001). Conclusion: Depression mediated the association between ACEs and SCD in the overall population, and among men and women. There was no moderating role of gender in the mediational pathway between ACEs, depression and SCD. Further analyses will be conducted to elucidate the interaction effects in these data. Future studies should assess the moderating role of gender in alternative mediational pathways such as examining substance use, and PTSD as potential mediators in the relationship between ACEs and SCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The impact of the residential neighborhood on health and aging is being increasingly recognized in medical and health sciences. Specifically, research suggests that the neighborhood where people live can be a risk or protective factor for various health outcomes, including brain health. Similar to the impact of neighborhood on health and aging, sleep has been linked to subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in older adults, which may signal a cognitive trajectory to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). This study aims to evaluate whether neighborhood problems and sleep difficulties predict subjective cognitive decline in Black men living in urban areas and, thus, may be related to elevated risks for ADRD. Method: Black American men (N = 117), age 40 – 70 years, were recruited through a targeted advert on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTURK) over a 3‐week period. The participants responded to a survey assessing neighborhood problems, bodily symptoms, length of residence, sleep difficulties, self‐rated health, sociodemographic characteristics, and subjective cognitive decline. Result: We performed hierarchical regression. In Model 1, only education was a significant predictor of SCD (F (3,113) = 8.52, p<.001), accounting for 18% of the variation in SCD. In Model 2, socioeconomic status, education, and bodily symptoms were significant predictors of SCD (F (5,111) = 13.99, p<.001) and explained 39% of the variation in SCD. In Model 3, neighborhood problems, length of residence added, socioeconomic status, education, and bodily symptoms were significant predictors and contributed 44% of the total variance in SCD (F (7,109) = 12.10, p<.001). In Model 4, sleep difficulties, length of residence, bodily symptoms, socioeconomic status, and education were significant predictors of SCD (F (9,107) = 13.59, p<.001), and accounted for 50% of the variation in SCD. Conclusion: Given that Black Americans have been found to have a higher prevalence of sleep disturbances compared to white Americans, our findings could add to inform future health interventions and policy recommendations that can address modifiable sources of poorer brain health in Black men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex and gender differences in brain health and cognitive decline are increasingly visible as we grapple with the profound impact of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD). However, the conventional narratives of sex and gender differences in ADRD research are often grounded in mainstream Global North cultural values. Despite its manifestation, the indigenous and non‐western concepts of sex and gender and the intersecting narratives of social vulnerability remain largely unexplored. Accurate characterization of sex and gender differences in ADRD must include narratives evident in high‐incidence populations or regions beyond the Global North. A full account of sex and gender differences in ADRD requires changing the narrative to interweave critical approaches. Specifically, it requires that we systematically examine how to reframe, repair, or otherwise change narratives about sex and gender differences in AD/ADRD research that do not reflect the experiences of people in the Global South. The talk will serve as a resource and a call to action regarding how one can produce and critically consume knowledge that affirms and represents all experiences ‐ including indigenous people and people in the Global South. Further, it will foster innovative approaches to empirical research on sex and gender differences in AD/ADRD and help us understand current research findings in the field and their limited capacity to inform research and clinical practice outside of the Global North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep has been linked to subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in older adults, which may indicate an onset of cognitive decline to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. There is a dearth of studies on the role of sleep difficulties and bodily symptoms in influencing cognitive status of middle‐age and older Black men. This limits our understanding of the potential role of sleep and bodily symptoms on Black men's brain health. Method: This cross‐sectional study examined factors predicting subjective cognitive decline in Black men living in urban settings. Participants (N = 117, Mage = 48.45) responded to a survey assessing sleep difficulties, sleep comorbidities, bodily symptoms, self‐rated health, sociodemographic characteristics, and subjective cognitive decline. SCD was operationalized as a self‐reported experience with increasing confusion or memory loss in the last 12 months. Result: Hierarchical regression revealed that in Model 1 with sociodemographic characteristics, only education was a significant predictor of SCD (F (4,112) = 6.33, p<.05), accounting for 18% of the variation in SCD. In Model 2 with self‐rated health and bodily symptoms added, socioeconomic status, education, and bodily symptoms were significant predictors of SCD (F (6,110) = 11.82, p<.001) and explained an additional 39% of the variation in SCD. When sleep difficulties and sleep comorbidities were added to Model 3, sleep difficulties, sleep comorbidities, bodily symptoms, socioeconomic status, and education were significant predictors of SCD (F (8,108) = 13.79, p<.001), accounting for 50% of the variation in SCD. Conclusion: Our findings may be used as a groundwork for future research examining the causal link between cognitive decline, sleep, and bodily functions. It can also inform health intervention programs for middle‐aged and older Black American men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some Nigerians struggle to make sense of symptoms resulting from Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). This may not be surprising as there is no word for dementia in its over 500 local languages. Thus, some Nigerians use words to explain ADRD symptoms that may stigmatize people living with dementia and their families. Method: Our qualitative descriptive study while focusing on the everyday understanding of dementia, aims to highlight the influence of stigma on the caregiving experiences of informal female Nigerian dementia caregivers. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 12 adult informal female caregivers in Nigeria. We analyzed the interview transcripts for themes. Then, the findings were shared with focus groups of 21 adult Nigerians residing in the United States to gain more contextual insight on the initial findings. Result: The three major themes identified in the study include: 1) misconceptions about ADRD symptoms, 2) stigma as a negative motivator, and 3) stigma weakens family support. Conclusion: Overall, we argue that a combination of limited ADRD knowledge and awareness, and traditional beliefs drive ADRD‐related stigmatization. This consequently affects access to caregiving and family support. Strategies such as culturally appropriate ADRD awareness campaigns and formal long‐term care policies are urgently needed. These would help reduce the risk of ADRD‐stigmatization and strengthen informal dementia caregiving in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research on Area Deprivation Index (ADI) suggests that the social environment and neighborhood stressors (e.g., violent crime risk) play a role in later‐life cognitive function. However, most of the research linking ADI and cognitive function has been conducted on non‐Hispanic white American samples. Further, while the ADI is useful in facilitating efficient integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) into models of cognitive aging, it does not take into account micro‐level measures of neighborhood stressors which may also affect cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to determine whether violent crime risk contributes to later‐life cognitive function above and beyond ADI in older African Americans. Methods: Participants are part of an ongoing study at Rutgers University‐Newark called the Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans, a university‐community collaboration fostered over 16 years (2006‐2022) of community engagement, health education, and public service. Analyses included 149 older African Americans aged 60 and above (Mage = 68.68, SD = 7.25; Medu = 13.99, SD = 2.43; n = 149). Cognitive function was assessed via the acquired equivalence task, a measure of one's ability to generalize past learning to novel task demands. Violent crime risk was calculated using the Risk Terrain Modeling technique, a geospatial risk assessment that evaluates the influence of the built environment on the distribution of crime. Results: A multiple linear regression was run to examine the relationship between violent crime risk and cognitive function. Violent crime risk was significantly associated with acquired equivalence task performance, F(6, 142) = 5.948, p =.024, adj. R2 =.167, even after controlling for ADI, age, education, and depression. The results showed that individuals living in areas with higher risk of violent crime had poorer ability to generalize past learning to novel task demands. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that for African Americans in an urban setting, hyper‐local violent crime risk appears to be supplemental with ADI at capturing the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cognitive function and Alzheimer's disease risk. Thus, for African American individuals' later‐life cognitive health, it is important to consider micro‐level measures of neighborhood stressors such as violent crime risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]