Life-course socioeconomic inequalities, social mobility and healthy aging in older adults: A multi-cohort study

IF 3.5 3区医学 Q2 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Archives of gerontology and geriatrics Pub Date : 2025-03-16 DOI:10.1016/j.archger.2025.105829

Ziting Huang , Eric T.C. Lai , Hideki Hashimoto , Michael Marmot , Jean Woo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

To investigate how socioeconomic positions at different life stages, their relative importance, and social mobility influence IC across the USA, UK, Europe, China, and Japan among adults aged ≥50 years.

Methods

We included 54,217 participants from five nationally representative cohorts in the USA, UK, Europe, China, and Japan. Life-course socioeconomic positions were assessed in early-life (childhood socioeconomic positions), early-adulthood (education), and late-adulthood (household wealth). Healthy aging was measured by intrinsic capacity including cognition, psychological health, locomotion, vitality, and sensory functions. Linear mixed models were used to estimate the associations of intrinsic capacity with each socioeconomic position indicator and social mobility.

Findings

Higher levels of education and wealth were both significantly associated with better intrinsic capacity (p < 0.05 in all cohorts).

Education had a stronger impact on intrinsic capacity than wealth in the USA, Europe, China, and Japan. Middle and high childhood socioeconomic positions were significantly linked to better intrinsic capacity compared with the low group (p < 0.05 in all cohorts). Compared to stable groups, upward and downward social mobility groups were associated with better and worse intrinsic capacity, respectively.

Conclusion

Socioeconomic measures throughout the life course can predict healthy aging in the USA, Europe, and Asia. The long-term negative impact of disadvantaged childhood socioeconomic positions on healthy aging can be partially mitigated by upward mobility later in life. Policies need to narrow the social inequalities from early life and prevent adults from experiencing downward mobility, thereby reducing disparities in healthy aging.

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来源期刊

Archives of gerontology and geriatrics 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

5.00%

发文量

198

审稿时长

16 days

期刊介绍： Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics provides a medium for the publication of papers from the fields of experimental gerontology and clinical and social geriatrics. The principal aim of the journal is to facilitate the exchange of information between specialists in these three fields of gerontological research. Experimental papers dealing with the basic mechanisms of aging at molecular, cellular, tissue or organ levels will be published. Clinical papers will be accepted if they provide sufficiently new information or are of fundamental importance for the knowledge of human aging. Purely descriptive clinical papers will be accepted only if the results permit further interpretation. Papers dealing with anti-aging pharmacological preparations in humans are welcome. Papers on the social aspects of geriatrics will be accepted if they are of general interest regarding the epidemiology of aging and the efficiency and working methods of the social organizations for the health care of the elderly.