Genes Related to Education Predict Frailty Among Older Adults in the United States.
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ABSTRACT: Objective
This article expands on research that links education and frailty among older adults by considering the role of genes associated with education.Method
Data come from a sample of 7,064 non-Hispanic, white adults participating in the 2004-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Frailty was measured with two indices: (a) The Frailty Index which corresponds to a deficit accumulation model; and (b) The Paulson-Lichtenberg Frailty Index which corresponds to the biological syndrome/phenotype model. Genes associated with education were quantified using an additive polygenic score. Associations between the polygenic score and frailty indices were tested using a series of multilevel models, controlling for multiple observations for participants across waves.Results
Results showed a strong and negative association between genes for education and frailty symptoms in later life. This association exists above and beyond years of completed education and we demonstrate that this association becomes weaker as older adults approach their 80s.Discussion
The results contribute to the education-health literature by highlighting new and important pathways through which education might be linked to successful aging.
SUBMITTER: Huibregtse BM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7756716 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Genes Related to Education Predict Frailty Among Older Adults in the United States.
Huibregtse Brooke M BM Newell-Stamper Breanne L BL Domingue Benjamin W BW Boardman Jason D JD
The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20210101 1
<h4>Objective</h4>This article expands on research that links education and frailty among older adults by considering the role of genes associated with education.<h4>Method</h4>Data come from a sample of 7,064 non-Hispanic, white adults participating in the 2004-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Frailty was measured with two indices: (a) The Frailty Index which corresponds to a deficit accumulation model; and (b) The Paulson-Lichtenberg Frailty Index which corresponds to the biologi ...[more]
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