Fact or artefact? Childhood adversity and adulthood trauma in the U.S. population-based Health and Retirement Study

Abstract Objectives The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was designed as an interdisciplinary study with a strong focus on health, retirement, and socioeconomic environment, to study their dynamic relationships over time in a sample of mid-life adults. The study includes validated self-report measures and individual items that capture the experiences of stressful events (stressor exposures) and subjective assessments of stress (perceived stress) within specific life domains. Methods This article reviews and catalogs the peer-reviewed publications that have used the HRS to examine associations between psychosocial stress measures and psychological, physical health, and economic outcomes. Results We describe the research to date using HRS measures of the following stress types: traumatic and life events, childhood adversity, caregiving and other chronic stressors, discrimination, social strain and loneliness, work stress, and neighborhood disorder. We highlight how to take further advantage of the longitudinal study to test complex biopsychosocial models of healthy aging. Discussion The HRS provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of psychosocial stress in existing population-based studies and offers the potential for a deeper understanding of how psychosocial factors are related to healthy aging trajectories. The next generation of research examining stress and trajectories of aging in the HRS should test complex longitudinal and mediational relationships, include contextual factors in analyses, and include more collaboration between psychologists and population health researchers.

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Same-Sex Couples and Cognitive Impairment: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbaa202 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Hui Liu ◽

Ning Hsieh ◽

Zhenmei Zhang ◽

Yan Zhang ◽

Kenneth M Langa

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Impairment ◽

The United States ◽

Population Based ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Sex Partners ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Same Sex ◽

Same Sex Couples ◽

Retirement Study

Abstract Objectives We provide the first nationally representative population-based study of cognitive disparities among same-sex and different-sex couples in the United States. Methods We analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2016). The sample included 23,669 respondents (196 same-sex partners and 23,473 different-sex partners) aged 50 and older who contributed to 85,117 person-period records (496 from same-sex partners and 84,621 from different-sex partners). Cognitive impairment was assessed using the modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status. Mixed-effects discrete-time hazard regression models were estimated to predict the odds of cognitive impairment. Results The estimated odds of cognitive impairment were 78% (p < .01) higher for same-sex partners than for different-sex partners. This disparity was mainly explained by differences in marital status and, to a much lesser extent, by differences in physical and mental health. Specifically, a significantly higher proportion of same-sex partners than different-sex partners were cohabiting rather than legally married (72.98% vs. 5.42% in the study sample), and cohabitors had a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment than their married counterparts (odds ratio = 1.53, p < .001). Discussion The findings indicate that designing and implementing public policies and programs that work to eliminate societal homophobia, especially among older adults, is a critical step in reducing the elevated risk of cognitive impairment among older same-sex couples.

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Validation of self-reported cancer diagnoses using Medicare diagnostic claims in the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, 2000-2016

Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention ◽

10.1158/1055-9965.epi-21-0835 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. cebp.0835.2021

Author(s):

Megan A Mullins ◽

Jasdeep S Kler ◽

Marisa R Eastman ◽

Mohammed Kabeto ◽

Lauren P Wallner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Retirement Study ◽

The U.S

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Marital Status and Dementia: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbz087 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 (8) ◽

pp. 1783-1795 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Hui Liu ◽

Zhenmei Zhang ◽

Seung-won Choi ◽

Kenneth M Langa

Keyword(s):

Marital Status ◽

The United States ◽

Population Based ◽

Cognitive Status ◽

Baseline Survey ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Related Factors ◽

Never Married ◽

Vulnerable Subpopulations ◽

Retirement Study

Abstract Objectives We provide one of the first population-based studies of variation in dementia by marital status in the United States. Method We analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2014). The sample included 15,379 respondents (6,650 men and 8,729 women) aged 52 years and older in 2000 who showed no evidence of dementia at the baseline survey. Dementia was assessed using either the modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) or the proxy’s assessment. Discrete-time hazard regression models were estimated to predict odds of dementia. Results All unmarried groups, including the cohabiting, divorced/separated, widowed, and never married, had significantly higher odds of developing dementia over the study period than their married counterparts; economic resources and, to a lesser degree, health-related factors accounted for only part of the marital status variation in dementia. For divorced/separated and widowed respondents, the differences in the odds of dementia relative to married respondents were greater among men than among women. Discussion These findings will be helpful for health policy makers and practitioners who seek to better identify vulnerable subpopulations and to design effective intervention strategies to reduce dementia risk.

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A non-APOE Polygenic score for Alzheimer’s disease and APOE-ε4 have independent associations with dementia in the Health and Retirement Study

10.1101/2020.02.10.20021667 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kelly M. Bakulski ◽

Harita S. Vadari ◽

Jessica D. Faul ◽

Steven G. Heeringa ◽

Sharon LR Kardia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Genetic Risk ◽

Population Based ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Polygenic Score ◽

Genetic Region ◽

Apoe Ε4 ◽

Normal Cognition ◽

Retirement Study

AbstractINTRODUCTIONAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common and costly neurodegenerative disorder. A large proportion of risk is heritable and many genetic risk factors for AD have been identified. The cumulative genetic risk of known markers has not been benchmarked for dementia in a population-based sample.METHODSIn the United States population-based Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (waves 1995-2014), we evaluated the role of cumulative genetic risk for AD, with and without the APOE-ε4 alleles, on dementia status (dementia, cognitive impairment without dementia, borderline cognitive impairment without dementia, cognitively normal). We used logistic regression, accounting for demographic covariates and genetic principal components, and analyses were stratified by European and African genetic ancestry.RESULTSIn the European ancestry sample (n=8399), both AD polygenic score excluding the APOE genetic region (odds ratio (OR)=1.10; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00, 1.20) and the presence of any APOE-ε4 alleles (OR=2.42; 95% CI: 1.99, 2.95) were associated with the odds of dementia relative to normal cognition in a mutually-adjusted model. In the African ancestry sample (n=1605), the presence of any APOE-ε4 alleles was associated with 1.77 (95% CI: 1.20, 2.61) times higher odds of dementia, while the AD polygenic score excluding the APOE genetic region was not significantly associated with the odds of dementia relative to normal cognition 1.06 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.30).DISCUSSIONCumulative genetic risk for AD and APOE-ε4 are both independent predictors of dementia. This study provides important insight into the polygenic nature of dementia and demonstrates the utility of polygenic scores in dementia research.

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Disparities in patient-centered communication for Black and Latino men in the U.S.: Cross-sectional results from the 2010 health and retirement study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0238356 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (9) ◽

pp. e0238356

Author(s):

Jamie A. Mitchell ◽

Ramona Perry

Keyword(s):

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Latino Men ◽

Retirement Study ◽

The U.S ◽

Black And Latino

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The Relationship Between Fertility History and Incident Dementia in the US Health and Retirement Study

10.31235/osf.io/3fje9 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alison Gemmill ◽

Jordan Weiss

Keyword(s):

Population Based ◽

Older Age ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Age At First Birth ◽

First Birth ◽

Men And Women ◽

Incident Dementia ◽

Younger Age ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Retirement Study

ObjectivesAn emerging literature suggests that fertility history, which includes measures of parity and birth timing, may influence cognitive health in older ages, especially among women given their differential exposure to pregnancy and sex hormones. Yet, few studies have examined associations between measures of fertility history and incident dementia in a population-based sample.MethodsWe examined the associations between parity, younger age at first birth, and older age at last birth with incident dementia over a 16-year period in a prospective sample of 15,361 men and women aged 51-100 years at baseline in 2000 drawn from the Health and Retirement Study. We used Cox regression and the Fine and Gray model from which we obtained cause-specific (csHRs) and subdistribution hazard ratios (sdHRs) for incident dementia from gender-stratified models in which we accounted for the semi-competing risk of death.ResultsDuring the follow-up period (median 13.0 years), the crude incidence rate for dementia was 16.6 and 19.9 per 1,000 person-years for men and women, respectively. In crude models estimating csHRs, higher parity (vs. parity 2) and younger age at first birth were associated with increased risk of dementia for both genders. These associations did not persist after full covariate adjustment. Across all models in which we estimated sdHRs, we observed a positive relationship between older age at last birth and incident dementia for women only.DiscussionIn this population-based, multi-ethnic cohort, we observed limited evidence for an association between measures of fertility history and incident dementia among men and women after adjusting for potential confounders.

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