Gender score development in a retrospective approach in the Berlin Aging Study II
AbstractIn addition to biological sex, gender, the sociocultural dimension of being a woman or a man, plays a central role in health. However, there are so far no approaches to quantify gender in a retrospective manner in existing study datasets. We therefore aimed to develop a methodology that can be retrospectively applied to assess gender in existing cohorts. We used baseline data from the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II), obtained in 2009-2014 from 1869 participants aged 60 years and older. We identified 13 gender related variables and used them to construct a gender score (GS) by primary component and logistic regression analysis. Of these, 9 variables contributed to a gender score: chronic stress, marital status, risk taking behavior, agreeableness, neuroticism, extraversion, loneliness, conscientiousness, and education. GS differed significantly between females and males as defined by sex. Next, we calculated linear regressions to investigate associations between sex, GS, and selected biological and well-being variables. Sex, but not GS was significantly associated with LDL-C and TC. GS, but not sex, was significantly associated with cortisol levels, CES-depression, negative affect, life satisfaction. Thus, we were able to develop a GS in a retrospective manner from available study variables that characterized women and men in addition to biological sex. This approach will allow us to introduce the notion of gender retrospectively into a large number of studies.