Association between early-life exposure to the Great Chinese Famine and poor physical function later in life: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate the association between early-life exposure to the Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961) and the prevalence of poor physical function in midlife.

Design

A population-based historical prospective study was performed as part of a wider cross-sectional survey. Exposure to famine was defined by birthdate, and participants were divided into non-exposed group, fetal-exposed group and infant-exposed group.

Setting and participants

A total of 3595 subjects were enrolled into the study from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) 2015 based on random selection of households that had at least one member aged 45 years old and older in 28 provinces of mainland China.

Main outcome measures

Physical function status was a

SUBMITTER: Tao T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6661887 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature