ABSTRACT
Although many gaps in our knowledge remain, it has become increasingly clear that dementia phenomenology and prevalence differs by ethnic/cultural group. In the United States, for instance, African Americans and Latinos appear to have a higher overall prevalence of dementia than European Americans and Asian Americans-although etiologies vary by group (Manly & Mayeux, 2004). While little empirical research has been conducted to date, American Indians seemingly have a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) but a higher prevalence of non-AD dementias (Henderson et al., 2002; Hendrie et al., 1993; Manly & Mayeux, 2004; Rosenberg et al., 1996). In this chapter, we argue that such claims, while intriguing, may be premature given the limited body of research on American Indians and dementia (Jervis & Manson, 2002). In fact, so little is known about any facet of dementia among American Indians that the field remains essentially wide open. Here, we describe the small literature on American Indians and dementia with a specific focus on the cognitive assessment of American Indians. In this vein, we specifically explore the cultural validity of cognitive testing as well as cultural understandings and the identification of cognitive impairment.
