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.

中文翻译：

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与教育有关的基因可预测美国老年人的身体虚弱。

摘要

目的

本文通过考虑与教育相关的基因的作用，扩大了将老年人的教育与虚弱联系起来的研究。

方法

数据来自参与2004-2012年健康与退休研究浪潮的7,064名非西班牙裔白人成年人的样本。脆弱性用两个指数来衡量：（a）脆弱性指数，对应于赤字积累模型；（b）与生物学综合症/表型模型相对应的鲍尔森-利希滕贝格脆弱指数。使用加性多基因评分对与教育相关的基因进行定量。使用一系列多级模型测试了多基因评分和脆弱指数之间的关联，以控制跨波参与者的多个观察。

结果

结果表明，教育基因与以后的衰弱症状之间存在强而负的联系。这种联系存在于完成学业的多年以上，并且我们证明，随着老年人接近80岁，这种联系变得越来越弱。

讨论区

这些结果突出了教育可能与成功的衰老相关的新的重要途径，从而为教育卫生文献做出了贡献。