Early-Life Socioeconomic Position and the Accumulation of Health-Related Deficits by Midlife in the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT: Reducing population levels of frailty is an important goal, and preventing its development in midadulthood could be pivotal. There is limited evidence on associations between childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) and frailty. Using data on the 1958 British birth cohort (followed from 1958 to 2016; n = 8,711), we aimed to 1) establish the utility of measuring frailty in midlife, by examining associations between a 34-item frailty index at age 50 years (FI50y) and mortality at ages 50-58 years, and 2) examine associations between early-life SEP and FI50y and investigate whether these associations were explained by adult SEP. Hazard ratios for mortality increased with increasing frailty; for example, the sex-adjusted hazard ratio for the highest quintile of FI50y versus the lowest was 4.07 (

SUBMITTER: Rogers NT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8327203 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature