Abstract
Objectives
We examined longitudinal patterns and sociodemographic correlates of allostatic load
(AL), a measure of cumulative biological risk and aging, in a sample of midlife women
consisting of non-Hispanic White, African American, Chinese, and Japanese women.
Methods
Longitudinal cohort data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation were used
to examine AL patterns in midlife women ages 42–53 (n = 1,932). AL measures were created using 10 biomarkers representing cardiovascular,
inflammatory, neuroendocrine, and metabolic system functioning. We used longitudinal
random effects Poisson regression models to assess change in AL over the 7-year follow-up
period and associations between sociodemographic factors and AL.
Results
On average, a woman's AL score increased 2% each year over the course of the study.
Baseline measures of African American race, low family income, older age, and ability
to read and speak only in English were significantly associated with higher levels
of AL over the study period. We did not observe significant differences in rates of
change in AL by race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that AL increases in a cumulative manner as women age. Midlife
is an especially important time in women's life course with respect to health maintenance
and healthy aging. AL can be an early warning indicator of subsequent disease burden,
pointing to subclinical conditions and the need for implementation of medical and
public health interventions earlier in the disease process.
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Biography
Laura Chyu, PhD, is a lecturer in the Public Health Program at Santa Clara University. Her areas of interest lie in women's health over the life course, social disparities in health, and embodiment of social contexts.
Biography
Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD, LAc, is Professor of Public Health at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. She studies women's health and well-being, emphasizing psychosocial stressors and lifestyle behaviors on health, and alternative and integrative medicine strategies to improve women's health.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 08, 2017
Accepted:
November 6,
2017
Received in revised form:
October 25,
2017
Received:
March 17,
2017
Footnotes
Funding statement: This study received funding from the National Institute on Aging and the Office of Research on Women's Health AG038467, awarded to Dr. Upchurch, and the University of California Dissertation Year Fellowship awarded to Dr. Chyu. The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) has grant support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), DHHS, through the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) (Grants U01NR004061; U01AG012505, U01AG012535, U01AG012531, U01AG012539, U01AG012546, U01AG012553, U01AG012554, U01AG012495).
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc.
