| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Low socioeconomic status and disability in old age
— evidence from the InChianti Study for the Mediating Role of Physiological Impairments | | Author(s) | Antonia K Coppin, Luigi Ferrucci, Fulvio Lauretani |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 61A, no 1, January 2006 |
| Pages | pp 86-91 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Poor elderly ; Physical disabilities ; Mobility ; Correlation ; Italy. |
| Annotation | Low socio-economic status (SES) has been associated with increased disability in later life. In a study of 1025 individuals aged 65+ living in the Chianti area (Italy), the aim was to determine whether SES has an impact on mobility functioning and to explore which physiological impairments are also associated with SES and may explain the relationship with mobility. Number of years of education was used as an indicator of SES. Mobility function was assessed using gait speed (400m) and the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Mobility-related physical impairments were assessed with tests of executive functioning, nerve conduction velocity, muscle power, hip-ankle range of motion, Ankle-Brachnal Index, and visual acuity. Linear regression models were used to study the association between number of years of education and mobility and to estimate the contribution of each of the selected physiological impairments to the association. Adjusting for age and sex, slower gait speed (1.16 vs 1.26 m/s) and lower SPPB scores (9.55 vs 10.11) were seen in those with five or less years of total education compared with those with more than 5 years of total education. Leg power and executive function decreased the strength of association between educational level and gait speed by more than 15%. Controlling for all selected impairments decreased the education-gait speed association by 49%. Low education continued to be significantly associated with gait speed. Adjusting for all physiological impairments substantially reduced the low education-SPPB score association by 100%, and this association was no longer significant. Low SES is related to multiple physiological impairments, which explain a large amount or the association between education and gait limitations. Further work must be dome to understand the mechanisms whereby low SES translates into the impairments that play an important role in mobility. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-060314224 A |
| Classmark | F:W6: BN: C4: 49: 76V |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|