Michelle Chen, PhD Assistant Professor of Neurology, Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Dr. Michelle Chen is Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, with joint appointments in the Center for Healthy Aging Research at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and the Department of Neurology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Yeshiva University, internship at the VA Maryland Health Care System, and research postdoctoral fellowship at Kessler Foundation. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on modifiable risk factors for cognitive aging. She currently has a NIH-funded K23 mentored career development award examining the effects of lifestyle behaviors on cognitive trajectories of older persons with multiple sclerosis. Her RCASIA pilot project extends this line of research into older Chinese Americans and aims to identify unique psychosocial risk factors for cognitive decline among older Chinese Americans compared to their Chinese and American counterparts.
Project Title: Longitudinal cognitive trajectories in older U.S. Chinese: dissociating racial, cultural, and environmental influences
Full Community Brief
Longitudinal Cognitive Trajectories in Older U.S. Chinese: Dissociating Racial, Cultural, and Environmental Influences
AUTHORS, AFFILIATIONS
Michelle H. Chen, Donald Hoover, William T. Hu
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers, The State University, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers, The State University, Department of Statistics, Rutgers, The State University
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study examines how cognition changes over time among older Chinese Americans, compared to older Chinese in China and older white Americans.The study purpose is to make three different datasets (Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago, China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, and Health and Retirement Study) comparable to each other, in order to compare changes in cognition (mental process of learning and knowing) over time among older Chinese Americans, older Chinese adults in China, and older white Americans.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Older Chinese Americans, a rapidly growing U.S. population, are underrepresented in cognitive health research. They face unique challenges—immigration-related stress, limited English proficiency, and barriers to dementia care—that can delay diagnosis and treatment. Understanding how culture, country of origin, and U.S. experiences influence cognitive changes over time is urgently needed.
KEY FINDINGS
We derived three cognitive measures—learning, recall, and non-memory functions—from three datasets. Older Chinese adults in both the U.S. and China showed cognitive decline over time. Physical health conditions predicted steeper decline in older white Americans but not in Chinese groups, while depressive symptoms were linked to greater decline in older Chinese adults but not in white Americans.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- This work provides a dataset that allows future researchers to compare how older Chinese Americans differ from other older Chinese adults in China and older non-Chinese Americans.
- This work will help clinicians look out for specific factors when considering dementia risk in older Chinese Americans patients.
LINKS
- China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS): https://charls.pku.edu.cn/en/
- Health and Retirement Study (HRS): https://hrs.isr.umich.edu/about
