AUSTIN (KXAN) – New research shows a more complete picture of how many people in each county in the United States have Alzheimer’s or dementia, allowing KXAN to analyze how it affects those living in Texas. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it marks the first time researchers have estimated the prevalence of the disease at the county-level — rather than estimating statewide numbers.
Using cognitive data, along with population and demographic statistics, researchers were able to produce estimates for all 3,142 U.S. counties. They found the highest rates of prevalence in the east and southeastern parts of the country.
In Texas, the southern and western parts of the state saw higher rates of prevalence. Presidio, a border county with a population of just over 6,000 and Marfa as its county seat, topped the list at 18.4% prevalence of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The researchers found a 10.7% prevalence in Travis County, 10.5% in Bastrop County, 10.2% in Williamson County and 10% in Hays County.
How the data helps
Andrea Taurins, executive director of the Capital of Texas chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the new data will help organizations and public health officials better target resources to the communities and people who need them most.
“It just helps us in understanding where the funding needs to go, where the programmings really need to be throughout Central Texas, and where we will focus most of our energy — which is where most of the people that are living with Alzheimer’s are,” she explained.
Robertson County, east of Temple, and Caldwell County, home to Lockhart and Luling, had the highest rates of prevalence in Central Texas – at 12.2% and 12.1%, respectively.
“What it makes me think of is: do people know we’re here?” asked Angela Floyd, who runs the only Alzheimer’s support group in Caldwell County. “Do people know that there’s somewhere they can go and they can talk to someone else that is dealing with what they deal with on a daily basis — and can provide them resources and support?”
Floyd took over the group when she began working at Golden Age Home, a non-profit assisted living facility in Lockhart. She also has personal experience: her paternal grandfather, maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather were diagnosed with the disease, and her mother currently suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“I think sometimes we feel like we have to do it all on our own,” she said, of loved ones and caregivers.
Floyd brings in different speakers to talk to the group about legal hurdles, Medicare questions and other complicated topics that people “have to learn to navigate” when a loved one is diagnosed.
“There’s just a plethora of things that are behind the scenes that aren’t associated with the disease, but how to handle the disease,” said Linda Mercer, a member of the group. “Sometimes it’s hard to find what you’re really looking for.”
Mercer said she hopes the data will bring more resources to caregivers in need, as well as patients. For example, she cited a “Respite Room” at Golden Age Home — a place where people can drop off their loved one for care while they “regroup and recharge,” Floyd explained.
Mercer said the room gave her a few minutes to herself, with the peace of mind that her mother was cared for and safe.
“We feel so isolated and so lost and helpless a lot of the times, that we just need to have … you know, we need to have a little focus on us,” she said.
For Floyd, the new data — particularly, the higher rate in Caldwell County — represents a new challenge for the group.
“Looking at the fact there’s 800 people in the county, and our group runs eight to 10 people, that means — lets me know that I’ve got to do more than what I’m doing to make people aware that there is a resource and a place for them to come, to get help and support,” Floyd said.
What else the research shows
Kumar B. Rajan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College, and colleagues released these findings last week at an international conference on Alzheimer’s in the Netherlands. They reached their results by utilizing cognitive data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project, or CHAP, and population estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics, or NHCS.
The researchers noted that higher rates of prevalence in certain areas could be explained by age or demographic trends in those areas. For example, a county might have a higher population of people over the age of 85 years old or a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic residents.
According to previous research reported by the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, African Americans are about two times more likely than white Americans to have Alzheimer’s and other dementias, while Hispanics are about one and one-half times more likely.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites certain chronic health conditions and other risk factors for the higher prevalence, such as diabetes, hearing loss, hyper-tension, diet, sleep quality, or alcohol and tobacco use.
Taurins said the data will help them better tailor materials to reach affected populations.
“We provide information in various languages, depending on what languages they’re most comfortable,” she said. “Then, we’ll work with community groups, churches or other community organizations in providing outreach or providing events specific to different populations in an effort to just raise more awareness and help different populations, one, understand their increased risk but also understand what they can do to lower their risk overall — or even be aware of what to look for in themselves or in their loved ones.”
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