scholarly journals Heterogeneity of Frailty Trajectories and Associated Factors in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Gerontology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Miles Welstead ◽  
Michelle Luciano ◽  
Tom C. Russ ◽  
Graciela Muniz-Terrera
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Frailty Index ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
Childhood Cognitive Ability ◽  
Mixed Modelling

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Recent research suggests that the experience of frailty progression may be heterogeneous, with latent subpopulations of older adults following distinct trajectories of frailty. We aimed to investigate this notion and determine whether certain factors are associated with the membership of these subpopulations. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Data from 5 data waves collected over 12 years in participants of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, aged 70 at baseline, were used to derive the frailty index (FI) (NW1 = 1,091, NW5 = 431). These were used in latent class mixed modelling to estimate subpopulations of frailty trajectories. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A quadratic latent class mixed model found 3 distinct groupings, which followed a low (61%, <i>n</i> = 632), medium (36%, <i>n</i> = 368), or high (3%, <i>n</i> = 28) FI trajectory. Each grouping had different intercepts and slopes, with the high grouping following the steepest trajectory indicating a rapid increase in frailty. Findings showed that in general, those in the low grouping were younger, had higher education, higher age 11 cognitive ability, and were from a higher social class than those in the medium and high groupings. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> Our findings demonstrate heterogeneity in frailty trajectories over 12 years in individuals aged 70 years at baseline. Membership of higher frailty trajectory groupings was associated with lower social class, less education, and lower childhood cognitive ability, indicating the potential for future interventions to target individuals who are at the greatest risk of belonging to the high frailty trajectory. Future research is required to continue this line of inquiry by exploring other risk and protective factors, and importantly, to assess whether it is possible to realign an individual’s membership to a less detrimental grouping of frailty trajectory.

scholarly journals Is life-course neighbourhood deprivation associated with frailty and frailty progression from age 70 to 82 in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergo Baranyi ◽  
Miles Welstead ◽  
Janie Corley ◽  
Ian Deary ◽  
Graciela Muniz-Terrera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Social Deprivation ◽  
Frailty Index ◽  
Sensitive Period ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Late Adulthood ◽  
Neighbourhood Deprivation ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
The Life Course

Background Neighbourhood features have been postulated as key predictors of frailty. However, evidence is mainly limited to cross-sectional studies without indication of long-term impact and developmental timing of the exposures. This study explored how neighbourhood social deprivation (NSD) across the life course is associated with frailty and frailty progression among older Scottish adults. Methods Participants (n=323) were from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 with historical measures of NSD in childhood (1936-1955), early adulthood (1956-1975) and mid-to-late adulthood (1976-2014). Frailty was measured five times between the ages of 70 and 82 years using the Frailty Index. Confounder-adjusted life-course models were assessed using a structured modelling approach with least angle regression; associations were estimated for frailty at baseline using linear regression, and for frailty progression using linear mixed-effects models. Results Accumulation was the most appropriate life-course model for males; greater accumulated NSD was associated with higher frailty at age 70 (b=0.017; 95%CI: 0.005, 0.029; P=0.007) with dominant exposure times in childhood and mid-to-late adulthood. Among females, mid-to-late adulthood sensitive period was the best-fit life-course model and higher NSD in this period was associated with widening frailty trajectories between age 70 and 82 (b=0.005; 95%CI: 0.0004, 0.009, P=0.033). Conclusions This is the first investigation of the life-course impact of neighbourhood deprivation on frailty in a cohort of older adults with residential information across their lives. Future research should explore neighbourhood mechanisms linking deprivation to frailty. Policies designed to address neighbourhood deprivation and inequalities across the full life course may support healthy ageing.

scholarly journals Longitudinal Associations Between Loneliness and Cognitive Ability in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 1376-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A Okely ◽  
Ian J Deary
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Birth Cohort Study ◽  
Visuospatial Ability ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
Longitudinal Associations ◽  
Reciprocal Associations

Abstract Objectives Loneliness is associated with poorer cognitive function in old age; however, the direction of this association is unknown. We tested for reciprocal associations between loneliness and the cognitive ability domains of processing speed, visuospatial ability, verbal memory, and crystallized ability. Method We used three triennial waves of longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort Study 1936, and tested for cross-lagged associations between loneliness and cognitive abilities using cross-lagged panel models. Results Better processing speed, visuospatial ability, or crystallized ability at age 73, was associated with less positive changes in loneliness between ages 73 and 76; however, these associations were not replicated between ages 76 and 79. Loneliness at ages 73 and 76 did not predict subsequent changes in cognitive abilities. Discussion Our findings indicate an association between cognitive ability and loneliness, such that individuals with lower cognitive abilities at age 73 may be at a slightly higher risk of becoming lonely. However, we did not find support for the hypothesis that loneliness causes a decline in cognitive health.

scholarly journals Characterisation of an inflammation-related epigenetic score and its association with cognitive ability

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna J. Stevenson ◽  
Daniel L. McCartney ◽  
Robert F. Hillary ◽  
Archie Campbell ◽  
Stewart W. Morris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Acute Infection ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Generation Scotland ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
Serum Crp

ABSTRACTResults from large cohort studies investigating the association between inflammation and cognition have been mixed, possibly due to methodological disparities. However, a key issue in research utilising inflammatory biomarkers is their typically phasic responses. C-reactive protein (CRP) is widely used to investigate the association between chronic inflammation and cognition, but its plasma concentrations can markedly deviate in response to acute infection. Recently a large-scale epigenome-wide association study identified DNA methylation correlates of CRP. DNA methylation is thought to be relatively stable in the short term, marking it as a potentially useful signature of exposure. Here, we generate an epigenetic CRP score and investigate its trajectories with age, and associations with cognitive ability, in comparison to serum CRP in two cohorts: a longitudinal study of older adults (the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, n=889) and a large, cross-sectional cohort (Generation Scotland, n=7,028).We identified differing trajectories of serum CRP across the cohorts, with no homogeneous trends seen with age. Conversely, the epigenetic score was consistently found to increase with age, and to do so more rapidly in males compared to females. Higher levels of serum CRP were found to associate with poorer cognition in Lothian Birth Cohort 1936, but not in Generation Scotland. However, a consistent negative association was identified between cognition and the epigenetic score in both cohorts. Furthermore, the epigenetic score accounted for a greater proportion of variance in cognitive ability.Our results suggest that epigenetic signatures of acute inflammatory markers may provide an enhanced signature of chronic inflammation, allowing for more reliable stratification of individuals, and thus clearer inference of associations with incident health outcomes.

scholarly journals Do childhood socioeconomic circumstances moderate the association between childhood cognitive ability and all-cause mortality across the life course? Prospective observational study of the 36-day sample of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. e037847
Author(s):  
Matthew Henry Iveson ◽  
Drew Altschul ◽  
Ian Deary
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
Childhood Cognitive Ability ◽  
Iq Scores ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Moderating Role

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that higher childhood cognitive ability predicts lower all-cause mortality risk across the life course. Whereas this association does not appear to be mediated by childhood socioeconomic circumstances, it is unclear whether socioeconomic circumstances moderate this association.MethodsThe moderating role of childhood socioeconomic circumstances was assessed in 5318 members of the 36-day sample of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947. Univariate, sex-adjusted and age-adjusted, and mutually adjusted Cox models predicting all-cause mortality risk up to age 79 years were created using childhood IQ scores and childhood social class as predictors. Moderation was assessed by adding an interaction term between IQ scores and social class and comparing model fit.ResultsAn SD advantage in childhood IQ scores (HR=0.83, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.86, p<0.001) and a single-class advantage in childhood social class (HR=0.92, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.97, p<0.001) independently predicted lower mortality risk. Adding the IQ–social class interaction effect did not improve model fit (χ2Δ=1.36, p=0.24), and the interaction effect did not predict mortality risk (HR=1.03, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.07, p=0.25).ConclusionsThe present study demonstrated that the association between higher childhood cognitive ability and lower all-cause mortality risk is not conditional on childhood social class. Whereas other measures of socioeconomic circumstances may play a moderating role, these findings suggest that the benefits of higher childhood cognitive ability for longevity apply regardless of the material socioeconomic circumstances experienced in childhood.

The association between cognitive ability across the lifespan and health literacy in old age: The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

Intelligence ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 178-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Murray ◽  
Wendy Johnson ◽  
Michael S. Wolf ◽  
Ian J. Deary
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort

scholarly journals Dietary glycaemic index and cognitive function: prospective associations in adults of the 1946 British birth cohort

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 1415-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Philippou ◽  
Gerda K Pot ◽  
Alexandros Heraclides ◽  
Marcus Richards ◽  
Rebecca Bendayan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Verbal Memory ◽  
Glycaemic Index ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Occupational Social Class ◽  
Rate Of Decline ◽  
Letter Search

AbstractObjectiveEvidence suggests that the rate of glucose release following consumption of carbohydrate-containing foods, defined as the glycaemic index (GI), is inversely associated with cognitive function. To date, most of the evidence stems from either single-meal studies or highly heterogeneous cohort studies. We aimed to study the prospective associations of diet GI at age 53 years with outcomes of verbal memory and letter search tests at age 69 years and rate of decline between 53 and 69 years.DesignLongitudinal population-based birth cohort study.SettingMRC National Survey for Health and Development.ParticipantsCohort members (n 1252).ResultsUsing multivariable linear and logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders, associations of higher-GI diet with lower verbal memory, lower letter search speed and lower number of hits in a letter search test were attenuated after adjustments for cognitive ability at age 15 years, educational attainment, further training and occupational social class. No association was observed between diet GI at 53 years and letter search accuracy or speed–accuracy trade-off at 69 years, or between diet GI at 53 years and rate of decline between 53 and 69 years in any cognitive measure.ConclusionsDiet GI does not appear to predict cognitive function or decline, which was mainly explained by childhood cognitive ability, education and occupational social class. Our findings confirm the need for further research on the association between diet and cognition from a life-course perspective.

Serum cholesterol and cognitive functions: the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 439-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janie Corley ◽  
John M. Starr ◽  
Ian J. Deary
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Birth Cohort ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Serum Cholesterol ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Verbal Ability ◽  
Older Age ◽  
Lothian Birth Cohort ◽  
Statin Use

ABSTRACTBackground:We examined the associations between serum cholesterol measures, statin use, and cognitive function measured in childhood and in old age. The possibility that lifelong (trait) cognitive ability accounts for any cross-sectional associations between cholesterol and cognitive performance in older age, seen in observational studies, has not been tested to date.Methods:Participants were 1,043 men and women from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 Study, most of whom had participated in a nationwide IQ-type test in childhood (Scottish Mental Survey of 1947), and were followed up at about age 70 years. Serum cholesterol measures included total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, and cholesterol:HDL cholesterol ratio. Cognitive outcome measures were age 70 IQ (using the same test as at age 11 years), general cognitive ability (g), processing speed, memory, and verbal ability.Results:Higher TC, higher HDL-C, and lower triglycerides were associated with higher age 70 cognitive scores in most cognitive domains. These relationships were no longer significant after covarying for childhood IQ, with the exception a markedly attenuated association between TC and processing speed, and triglycerides and age 70 IQ. In the fully adjusted model, all conventionally significant (p < 0.05) effects were removed. Childhood IQ predicted statin use in old age. Statin users had lower g, processing speed, and verbal ability scores at age 70 years after covarying for childhood IQ, but significance was lost after adjusting for TC levels.Conclusions:These results suggest that serum cholesterol and cognitive function are associated in older age via the lifelong stable trait of intelligence. Potential mechanisms, including lifestyle factors, are discussed.

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