Heterogenous Trajectories in Physical, Mental and Cognitive Health among Older Americans: Roles of Genetics and Earlier SES

Hoang, Cung Truong; Amin, Vikesh; Behrman, Jere R.; Kohler, Hans‐Peter; Kohler, Iliana V.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3935985

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Though on average health deteriorates with age almost universally as a basic feature of the human lifecourse (Kunkel, Brown, and Whittington 2019), studies documenting the heterogeneity and diversity of aging patterns have concentrated on HICs (e.g., Hoang et al. 2023; Walsemann and Ailshire 2020; Zheng et al. 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While differential aging trajectories have been extensively studied in high‐income populations (e.g., Hoang et al. 2023; Walsemann and Ailshire 2020; Zheng et al. 2021), including linking lifecourse disparities in health to early life contexts or socioeconomic status (Barker 1990; Link and Phelan 1995), the diversity of aging pattern s has rarely been investigated among poor aging populations who experience substantial hardships throughout their lifecourses (Baulch and Hoddinott 2000; Castaneda et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Resilience, Accelerated Aging, and Persistently Poor Health: Diverse Trajectories of Health in Malawi

Hoang,

Kohler,

Amin

et al. 2023

Population & Development Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals age at vastly different rates resulting in significant within‐population heterogeneity in health and aging outcomes. This diversity in health and aging trajectories has rarely been investigated among low‐income aging populations that have experienced substantial hardships throughout their lifecourses. Utilizing 2006–2019 data from the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health and estimating group‐based trajectory models, our analyses identified three distinct lifecourse health trajectories: (1) comparatively good initial mental and physical health that persisted throughout the lifecourse (“resilient aging”), (2) relatively good initial mental and physical health that started to deteriorate during mid‐adulthood (“accelerated aging”), and (3) poor initial mental and physical health that further declined over the lifecourse (“aging with persistently poor health”). For both physical and mental health, men were more likely to enjoy resilient aging than women. Predictors other than gender of trajectory membership sometimes confirmed, and sometimes contradicted, hypotheses derived from high‐income country studies. Our analyses highlight the long arm of early life conditions and gender in determining aging trajectories and show that a nontrivial subpopulation is characterized by aging with persistently poor health. The study uncovers widening gaps in health outcomes between those who age with resilience and those who experience accelerated aging.

show abstract