@article {9413, title = {A cross-national comparison of 12 biomarkers finds no universal biomarkers of aging among individuals aged 60 and older}, journal = {Vienna Yearbook of Population Research}, volume = {1}, year = {2017}, pages = {255-277}, abstract = {There is uncertainty about whether biological and anthropometric measures that are clinical risk factors for disease are universally associated with chronological age, or whether these correlations vary depending on the social and economic context. The answer to this question has implications for the malleability of biological aging. To examine this issue, we use population-based data on individuals aged 60 and older from the Costa Rican Study on Longevity and Healthy Aging, and temporally consistent data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the United States Health and Retirement Study. Our analysis focuses on 12 biomarkers that have been shown in the literature to have an association with age, and that occur prior to the clinical manifestation of disease. We find that there are few consistent patterns of association with age when these biomarkers are stratified by gender, country, and level of education. This result suggests that these measures of biological aging are highly context-dependent, and that none of the 12 biomarkers we examined are universal biomarkers of aging. Future research that investigates composite measures of biological age should test newly proposed measures across gender, social class, and country.}, keywords = {Aging, Biomarkers, Cross-National, Genetics}, issn = {1728-4414}, doi = {10.1553/populationyearbook10.1553/populationyearbook201610.1553/populationyearbook2016s255}, url = {http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/1728-4414http://hw.oeaw.ac.at/populationyearbook2016http://hw.oeaw.ac.at?arp=0x0036e638}, author = {David Rehkopf and Rosero-Bixby, Luis and William H Dow}, editor = {Lutz, Wolfgang} } @article {7561, title = {Do biological measures mediate the relationship between education and health: A comparative study.}, journal = {Soc Sci Med}, volume = {72}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jan}, pages = {307-15}, publisher = {72}, abstract = {

Despite a myriad of studies examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and health outcomes, few have assessed the extent to which biological markers of chronic disease account for social disparities in health. Studies that have examined this issue have generally been based on surveys in wealthy countries that include a small set of clinical markers of cardiovascular disease. The availability of recent data from nationally representative surveys of older adults in Costa Rica and Taiwan that collected a rich set of biomarkers comparable to those in a recent US survey permits us to explore these associations across diverse populations. Similar regression models were estimated on three data sets - the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study in Taiwan, the Costa Rican Study on Longevity and Healthy Aging, and the Health and Retirement Study in the USA - in order to assess (1) the strength of the associations between educational attainment and a broad range of biomarkers; and (2) the extent to which these biomarkers account for the relationships between education and two measures of health status (self-rated health, functional limitations) in older populations. The estimates suggest non-systematic and weak associations between education and high risk biomarker values in Taiwan and Costa Rica, in contrast to generally negative and significant associations in the US, especially among women. The results also reveal negligible or modest contributions of the biomarkers to educational disparities in the health outcomes. The findings are generally consistent with previous research suggesting stronger associations between socioeconomic status and health in wealthy countries than in middle-income countries and may reflect higher levels of social stratification in the US. With access to an increasing number of longitudinal biosocial surveys, researchers may be better able to distinguish true variations in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health across different settings from methodological differences.

}, keywords = {Biomarkers, Blood pressure, Body Mass Index, Cholesterol, Costa Rica, Educational Status, Female, Health Status Disparities, Health Status Indicators, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Qualitative Research, Taiwan, United States}, issn = {1873-5347}, doi = {10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.11.004}, author = {Goldman, Noreen and Cassio M. Turra and Rosero-Bixby, Luis and David R Weir and Eileen M. Crimmins} }