%0 Journal Article %J The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %D 2021 %T Genes Related to Education Predict Frailty Among Older Adults in the United States. %A Huibregtse, Brooke M %A Breanne L Newell-Stamper %A Benjamin W Domingue %A Jason D Boardman %K Education %K Functional health status %K Genetics %K Successful aging %X

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.

%B The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %V 76 %P 173-183 %G eng %N 1 %R 10.1093/geronb/gbz092 %0 Journal Article %J The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %D 2021 %T Mortality and Obesity among US Older Adults: The Role of Polygenic Risk %A Vinneau, Justin M %A Huibregtse, Brooke M %A Laidley, Thomas M %A Joshua A Goode %A Jason D Boardman %K Mortality %K Obesity %K polygenic risk %K Polygenic risk score %X To examine the relationship between obesity and mortality as a function of polygenic risk for obesity among older US adults.Using data from the 1994-2014 Health and Retirement Study in conjunction with genome-wide data, we evaluated the risk of mortality as a function of obesity classification, an individual’s polygenic risk score (PGS) for obesity, and their interaction, stratified by sex. We conducted our analyses using cox proportional hazard models.Among those with an average PGS for obesity (8,143 [68.8 \%]), obese I (HR = 0.7 %B The Journals of Gerontology, Series B %V 76 %P 343-347 %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1093/geronb/gbz156