Demographic predictors of cognitive performance in participants of a local substance abuse recovery program.

Background: Cognitive impairments have been reported among disadvantaged populations.

Objective: We aimed to ascertain how demographic factors are associated with cognitive performance in individuals enrolled in a local substance abuse recovery program.

Methods: In total, 106 participants were included in the study. Besides demographic information, vital signs and cognitive function, measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), were collected from each participant. Welch's t-test and regression analysis were used to analyze how different demographic factors are associated with cognitive assessment scores.

Results: The mean age of African American (AA) participants (n = 43) were 48.35 ± 1.65 years, which are older than that for the White participants of 38.95 ± 1.36 (n = 63) years. Compared to the AA participants, the White participants had a larger variance in attained education levels. The average MMSE scores were 27.09 ± 0.40 for AA participants, which is lower than that for the White participants of 28.52 ± 0.33 (p < 0.05). The average MoCA scores were 23.71 ± 0.54 for AAs, which is lower that for the White participants of 26.65 ± 0.44 (p < 0.001). The AA and White participant groups had cognitive impairment rate of 18.6% and 6.35%, respectively. The regression analysis indicates age and education are two significant predictors for the cognitive performance difference between the two racial groups.

Conclusions: Significant disparities in cognitive performance exist between two racial groups of enrolled in a local substance abuse recovery program. The older age and lower levels of attained education in AA participants can explain the poorer cognitive function than the White participants.