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ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME INCIDENT PROXIMITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS
Genesis Tan, Alejandro Giménez-Santana, Zuzanna Osiecka, Darlingtina K. Esiaka, Bernadette A. Fausto, Mark A. Gluck. Innovation in Aging, 2022-11-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Abstract Research on Area Deprivation Index (ADI) suggests that the built environment and neighborhood stressors (e.g., violent crime incidents) play a role in later-life cognitive function. However, most of the research linking ADI and cognitive function was conducted on majority White American samples. Further, while ADI is useful in facilitating efficient integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) into models of cognitive aging, it does not account for the impact of micro-level measures of neighborhood stressors on cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to determine whether violent crime incident proximity (VCIP) contributes to later-life cognitive function above and beyond ADI in older African Americans. Participants (N=147; M= 68.34) from an ongoing study, Pathways to Healthy Aging in African Americans—a Rutgers University-Newark community partnership fostered over 16 years of community engagement, health education, and public service—responded to measures of cognitive ability, SDOH, and demographic details. The results show that VCIP is a trending predictor of cognitive performance, when adjusting for age, gender, education, depression, and ADI. The result aligns with our hypothesis that individuals living in areas with greater VCIP will have poorer performance on cognitive tasks. Our findings suggest that for African Americans in an urban setting, hyper-local VCIP appears to be more useful at capturing the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease risk. Therefore, for later-life cognitive health in African Americans, it is important to consider micro-level measures of neighborhood stressors such as VCIP.
Key findings
- Abstract Research on Area Deprivation Index (ADI) suggests that the built environment and neighborhood stressors (e.g., violent crime incidents) play a role in later-life cognitive function.
- The results show that VCIP is a trending predictor of cognitive performance, when adjusting for age, gender, education, depression, and ADI.
- The result aligns with our hypothesis that individuals living in areas with greater VCIP will have poorer performance on cognitive tasks.
- Our findings suggest that for African Americans in an urban setting, hyper-local VCIP appears to be more useful at capturing the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Why it matters
In this small study of 147 older African Americans, proximity to violent crime was a trending predictor of cognitive performance after adjusting for other factors. The result was only trending, not definitive, and the study concerns neighborhood stressors and cognition rather than treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants147
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 35/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Innovation in Aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Innovation in Aging: journal h-index 48 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 147 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.2 citations a year over 6 year(s) since 2022 |
| Impact for its field and year | 1 / 6 | Cited 0.2× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Mark A. Gluck: h-index 53 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey: institution h-index 1,147 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 35 / 100 | — |
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Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Tan, G., Giménez-Santana, A., Osiecka, Z., Esiaka, D. K., Fausto, B. A., & Gluck, M. A. (2022). ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME INCIDENT PROXIMITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS. Innovation in Aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igac059.1924
Vancouver
Tan G, Giménez-Santana A, Osiecka Z, Esiaka DK, Fausto BA, Gluck MA. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME INCIDENT PROXIMITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS. Innovation in Aging. 2022. doi:10.1093/geroni/igac059.1924.
BibTeX
@article{tan2022-9b6ff063,
author = {Tan, Genesis and Giménez-Santana, Alejandro and Osiecka, Zuzanna and Esiaka, Darlingtina K. and Fausto, Bernadette A. and Gluck, Mark A.},
title = {{ASSOCIATION BETWEEN VIOLENT CRIME INCIDENT PROXIMITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN OLDER AFRICAN AMERICANS}},
journal = {Innovation in Aging},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1093/geroni/igac059.1924},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igac059.1924}
}