Overview
South Korea, despite its robust economic growth, is facing challenges associated with an aging population and income inequality. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), including education and socioeconomic status, profoundly influence the cognitive health and dementia risk in older adults. However, these aspects remain critically understudied in South Korea, specifically regarding their impacts on brain health through Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VD).
Project Details
This project will investigate the impact of Social Determinants of Health on brain health in older South Korean adults, focusing on the relationship between SDOH and the two main causes of dementia, AD and VD. This pilot project aims to elucidate the relationship between SDOH and AD and VD pathologies within South Korea's aging population. We will recruit 150 participants (100 cognitively impaired and 50 cognitively unimpaired) from the Seoul AD Imaging Cohort conducted at Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine. SDOH data for all participants will be collected through retrospective electronic medical chart reviews. This study will employ various neuroimaging techniques to investigate the association between SDOH and neuroimaging biomarkers for AD and VD. For Alzheimer's disease, amyloid and tau PET scans will be collected to analyze amyloid and tau pathology respectively, and the standardized uptake value ratio will be calculated. For vascular dementia , Brain MR images will be used to calculate a total cerebral small vessel disease score. This study will be analyzed by employing Pearson correlation analysis to investigate the associations between SDOH and imaging biomarkers for AD and VD, and further, using Steiger's Z-test to determine the dementia pathology most strongly linked with SDOH by comparing correlation coefficients. We hypothesize that individuals experiencing greater disadvantages due to SDOH will show stronger correlations with either AD or VD pathology. Further, the study seeks to determine which dementia pathology, AD or VD, shows a more robust association with SDOH disadvantages in South Korea. Unveiling the associations between SDOH and neurodegenerative diseases can provide crucial evidence to inform policies and initiatives that promote brain health equity. By understanding these associations, we can devise strategies to mitigate the influence of SDOH on these diseases, leading to better brain health outcomes for South Korea.
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