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The purpose of this research is to determine whether health is affected by concerns about cognitive functioning and worries about developing dementia. Methods: The analysis is based on three waves of data collected in 2000, 2005, and 2011 from two samples of persons ages 40-60 at T1: (1) adult children with a parent diagnosed with probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and (2) a matched control group with no parental history of AD. The principal predictor is a composite measure of the number of waves respondents (Rs) scored higher on five indicators of concerns about cognitive functioning and worries about dementia. The principal outcome variable is a composite measure of health over the three waves and is based on self-reported health, number of sick days, number of doctor’s visits, and number of days spent in a hospital. Results: Using regression analysis, the cognitive and AD concerns measure was a significant predictor of the composite measure of health, net of other effects. Neither subsample nor a concerns/subsample interaction term reached significance. Discussion: Over an 11-year period, the more often one was concerned and worried about cognitive functioning and about developing AD, the greater the likelihood Rs were in poorer health. This effect held regardless of whether Rs were from families where a parent had been diagnosed with AD or from families with no parental history of AD. That concerns and worries about cognitive functioning and AD appears to be a robust predictor should alert providers of human services to this source of threats to physical well-being.
Keywords: Cognitive functioning, health, dementia worries, Alzheimer’s disease
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