@article {12629, title = {Racial/Ethnic Differences in Biological Aging and Their Life Course Socioeconomic Determinants: The 2016 Health and Retirement Study.}, journal = {Journal of Aging and Health}, year = {2023}, abstract = {

This study examined differences in accelerated biological aging among non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites in the United States and assessed whether including life course socioeconomic conditions attenuated observed racial/ethnic differences. Data came from the Venous Blood Collection Subsample of the Health and Retirement Study. We used a comprehensive summary measure of biological age (BA-22). We determined whether key lifetime socioeconomic conditions contributed to racial/ethnic differences in biological aging. Findings indicated that non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics have accelerated aging, and non-Hispanic Whites have decelerated aging. Racial/ethnic differences were strongly tied to educational attainment. We also observed a significant difference by birthplace for Hispanics. US-born Hispanics had accelerated biological aging, whereas foreign-born Hispanics did not. In age-stratified analyses, these racial/ethnic differences were found for adults aged 56-74, but not for adults aged 75+. These findings provide insight into biological differences underlying racial/ethnic disparities in health.

}, keywords = {accelerated biological aging, racial/ethnic disparities}, issn = {1552-6887}, doi = {10.1177/08982643221120743}, author = {Farina, Mateo P and Jung K Kim and Eileen M. Crimmins} } @article {12877, title = {The role of cohabitation on adaptive and innate immune cell profiles in the Health and Retirement Study}, journal = {American Journal of Clinical Pathology}, volume = {158}, year = {2022}, pages = {S2}, abstract = {Immune cells distribution is shaped by numerous factors including environmental factors, age, and genetics. Cohabitation has been associated with similar microbiomes, possibly due to dietary patterns and exposure to similar pathogens but has not been studied in the context of adaptive and innate immune systems previously. We used immunophenotyping data of 2283 households with participants living in the same household and compared it to 2283 randomly generated pairs of participants from the Health and Retirement study. The adaptive immune cells (subsets of T-cells and B-cells), and innate immune cells (monocytes, natural killer cells, and neutrophils) were compressed to two coordinates using multidimensional scaling. The Euclidean distances between participants in the same household were compared to the distances between the random pairs of participants using two sample independent t-tests. The mean distances of the immune coordinate points for adaptive immune cells between participants in the same household were lower than the randomly paired participants (p-value \< 0.0001) and the variability of intra-household distances was lower than the random pairs (IQR: 7.18 vs 8.99). For the innate immune cells, the mean distances between participants in the same household were slightly lower than the randomly paired participants (p-value = 0.03) but the variability of the intra-household distances was higher than the random pairs (IQR: 4.08 vs 3.65). Variability in the adaptive immune system among participants living in the same household were substantially lower indicating the influence of shared environmental conditions in determining the adaptive immune profiles.}, keywords = {adaptive immune cells, Cohabitation, Households}, doi = {10.1093/ajcp/aqac126.002}, author = {Ramasubramanian, Ramya and Meier, Helen and Eileen M. Crimmins and Jessica Faul and Bharat Thyagarajan} } @article {10097, title = {Racial and educational disparities in cognitive life expectancies.}, journal = {The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences}, volume = {75}, year = {2020}, pages = {e105-e112}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: We estimate life expectancy with and without dementia for Americans 65 years and older by education and race to examine how these stratification systems combine to shape disparities in later-life cognitive health.

METHOD: Based on the Health and Retirement Study (2000-2014), we use a multivariate, incidence-based life table approach to estimate life expectancy by cognitive health status for race-education groups. The models also simulate group differences in the prevalence of dementia implied by these rates.

RESULTS: The life table results document notable race-education differences in dementia and dementia-free life expectancy, as well as stark differences in implied dementia prevalence. At each education level, blacks can expect to live more years with dementia and they have significantly higher rates of dementia prevalence. This distribution of disparities in the older population is anchored by two groups -- blacks without a high school diploma and whites with some college or more.

DISCUSSION: Dementia experience and dementia burden differ dramatically along race-education lines. Race and education combine to exaggerate disparities and they both have enduring effects. Future research should explicitly consider how race and education combine to influence dementia in the older American population.

}, keywords = {Cognition \& Reasoning, Mortality, Racial/ethnic differences}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbz046}, author = {Mateo P Farina and Mark D Hayward and Eileen M. Crimmins and Jung K Kim} } @article {5919, title = {Results from the Health and Retirement Study Biomarker Validation Project}, year = {2011}, institution = {Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan}, keywords = {Health Conditions and Status, Methodology}, author = {Eileen M. Crimmins and Jung K Kim and Heather McCreath and Teresa Seeman} } @article {7290, title = {Racial and Ethnic Differences in Undiagnosed and Poorly Managed Diabetes and Hypertension: Combining Population Surveys with Biomarker Data (HRS2006).}, journal = {The Gerontologist}, volume = {48}, year = {2008}, pages = {1}, publisher = {48}, abstract = {CA Diabetes and hypertension are common conditions of aging that increase risk for cardiovascular events if not properly treated.Concerns about undiagnosed, and inadequately treated disease, are particularly strong for minority populations.Diabetes diagnosis rates vary from 16 among whites to 29 for blacks and 27 for Hispanics.}, keywords = {Demographics, Health Conditions and Status}, author = {David R Weir and Eileen M. Crimmins} } @inbook {5228, title = {Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Health}, booktitle = {Critical Perspectives on Race and Ethnic Differences in Health in Later Life}, year = {2004}, pages = {310-352}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, organization = {National Academy of Sciences}, chapter = {9}, abstract = {Mounting evidence indicates that racial/ethnic differences in morbidity and mortality are tied to socioeconomic resources (Hayward, Crimmins, Miles, and Yu, 2000; Williams and Collins, 1995). Largely because of data availability, most of this evidence is based on the health experiences of blacks and whites, with much less evidence on the role of socioeconomic factors in understanding racial/ethnic disparities when Americans of Asian or Pacific Island descent, Hispanics, and Native Americans are part of the picture. The potential power of the socioeconomic status (SES) paradigm in understanding health disparities{\textemdash}including racial/ethnic disparities{\textemdash}is evident in the fact that socioeconomic differences in health outcomes have been widely documented for most health conditions in most countries. People who are poorer and who have less education are more likely to suffer from diseases, to experience loss of functioning, to be cognitively and physically impaired, and to experience higher mortality rates (Adler, Boyce, Chesney, Folkman, and Syme, 1993; Adler et al., 1994; Marmot, Kogevinas, and Elston, 1987; Marmot, Ryff, Bumpass, Shipley, and Marks, 1997; Preston and Taubman, 1994; Williams, 1990). In the United States, few health problems are more likely to occur among those who are better off, and some health conditions are particularly sensitive to SES. In recent years socioeconomic differences in health also appear to be increasing in the United States and in other developed countries (Crimmins and Saito, 2001; Feldman, Makuc, Kleinman, and Coroni-Huntley, 1989; Manton, 1997; Marmot, 1994; Pappas, Queen, Hadden, and Fisher, 1993; Preston and Elo, 1995).}, keywords = {Demographics, Health Conditions and Status, Healthcare, Women and Minorities}, url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK25526/$\#$:~:text=Socioeconomic\%20status\%20is\%20obviously\%20related,health\%20outcomes\%20relative\%20to\%20whites.}, author = {Eileen M. Crimmins and Mark D Hayward and Teresa Seeman}, editor = {Norman B. Anderson and Randy A. Bulatao and Barney Cohen} } @article {6944, title = {Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: report from a technical working group.}, journal = {Demography}, volume = {41}, year = {2004}, month = {2004 Aug}, pages = {417-41}, publisher = {41}, abstract = {

In September 2002, a technical working group met to resolve previously published inconsistencies across national surveys in trends in activity limitations among the older population. The 12-person panel prepared estimates from five national data sets and investigated methodological sources of the inconsistencies among the population aged 70 and older from the early 1980s to 2001. Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 1\%-2.5\% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with daily activities. Mixed evidence was found for a third measure: the use of help or equipment with daily activities. The panel also found agreement across surveys that the proportion of older persons who receive help with bathing has declined at the same time as the proportion who use only equipment (but not personal care) to bathe has increased. In comparing findings across surveys, the panel found that the period, definition of disability, treatment of the institutionalized population, and age standardizing of results were important to consider. The implications of the findings for policy, national survey efforts, and further research are discussed.

}, keywords = {Activities of Daily Living, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Chronic disease, Disabled Persons, Female, Health Surveys, Homemaker Services, Humans, Male, Models, Statistical, Self-Help Devices, United States}, issn = {0070-3370}, doi = {10.1353/dem.2004.0022}, author = {Vicki A Freedman and Eileen M. Crimmins and Robert F. Schoeni and Brenda C Spillman and Aykan, Hakan and Kramarow, Ellen and Land, Kenneth and Lubitz, James and Kenneth G. Manton and Linda G Martin and Shinberg, Diane and Timothy A Waidmann} }