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55/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 55 out of 100. Brain tissue and pathology

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

The study sample included 3566 Black (16 104 observations) and 17 555 White (90 874 observations) participants. The mean (SD) age of the sample was 75.6 (7.5) years, and 62 187 (58.1%) were female. Participants exposed to high vs low segregation exhibited lower cognitive scores (13.6 vs 14.5) and a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment (37.0% vs 28.0%) and dementia (14.1% vs 9.3%). Multilevel analyses revealed a significant negative association between school segregation and later-life cognitive outcomes among Black participants, but not among White participants, after adjusting for covariates. Potential mediators across the life course, including educational attainment, explained 57.6% to 72.6% of the association, yet the findings were significant among Black participants for all outcomes. In the model including all mediators and covariates, Black participants exposed to high segregation exhibited significantly lower cognitive scores (coefficient, -0.26; 95% CI, -0.43 to -0.09) and a higher likelihood of cognitive impairment (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.35; 95% CI, 1.12-1.63) and dementia (AOR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.03-1.54). Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional study of Black and White older individuals found that childhood exposure to school segregation was associated with late-life cognition among the Black population. Given the increasing amount of school segregation in the US, educational policies aimed at reducing segregation are needed to address health inequities. Clinicians may leverage patients' early-life educational circumstances to promote screening, prevention, and management of cognitive disorders.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

This is a cross-sectional study of 3,566 participants. This study found that Black older adults who attended highly segregated schools in childhood had lower cognitive scores and higher rates of cognitive impairment and dementia later in life, while no such link was seen in White participants. Reported effect size: 58.1%; 37.0%; 28.0%.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Lin, Z., Wang, Y., Gill, T. M., & Chen, X. (2025). Exposure to School Racial Segregation and Late-Life Cognitive Outcomes. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52713

Vancouver

Lin Z, Wang Y, Gill TM, Chen X. Exposure to School Racial Segregation and Late-Life Cognitive Outcomes. JAMA Network Open. 2025. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52713. PMID: 39752159.

BibTeX

@article{lin2025-39752159,
  author  = {Lin, Zhuoer and Wang, Yi and Gill, Thomas M. and Chen, Xi},
  title   = {{Exposure to School Racial Segregation and Late-Life Cognitive Outcomes}},
  journal = {JAMA Network Open},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52713},
  pmid    = {39752159},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52713}
}

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.

How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 3,566 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record reports “58.1%; 37.0%; 28.0%”. A statistically significant result can still be small in daily life.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

The study sample included 3566 Black (16 104 observations) and 17 555 White (90 874 observations) participants.
The mean (SD) age of the sample was 75.6 (7.5) years, and 62 187 (58.1%) were female.
Participants exposed to high vs low segregation exhibited lower cognitive scores (13.6 vs 14.5) and a higher prevalence of cognitive impairment (37.0% vs 28.0%) and dementia (14.1% vs 9.3%).
Multilevel analyses revealed a significant negative association between school segregation and later-life cognitive outcomes among Black participants, but not among White participants, after adjusting for covariates.
Potential mediators across the life course, including educational attainment, explained 57.6% to 72.6% of the association, yet the findings were significant among Black participants for all outcomes.

Why it matters

This study found that Black older adults who attended highly segregated schools in childhood had lower cognitive scores and higher rates of cognitive impairment and dementia later in life, while no such link was seen in White participants. Because the study looked at one point in time, it cannot prove that school segregation caused these later cognitive problems.

Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants3,566
Effect size58.1%; 37.0%; 28.0%
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 55/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA Network Open)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	JAMA Network Open: journal h-index 235 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
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	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	3 / 4	3,566 participants
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	2 / 7	Cited 12 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	2 / 5	4.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 7.6× 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	1 / 4	Cited 12 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	2 / 4	Last-listed author Xi Chen: h-index 34 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Yale University: institution h-index 1,927 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 39752159)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	55 / 100	—

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Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

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