Low socioeconomic status people have more age-related declines
Researchers at University College London have found that those with a low socioeconomic standing experience greater declines in age related functions as they age than people who are of a higher status. Andrew Steptoe, Paola Zaninotto, and their colleagues describe what they discovered in their paper, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Research has shown that people who are poorer tend to have more negative health effects. Also, they tend to die earlier. One area of aging which hasn’t been studied is the impact that poverty can have on age-related declines in function, such as hearing loss or muscle weakness. Researchers analyzed the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a long-term study of aging. This data helped them learn more about how socioeconomic status affects age-related decline. The study, which began in 2002 and collected data from volunteers over 50 years old as they aged, was launched. Data collected includes medical and physical data, as well as test results to assess cognitive and emotional abilities. This new project included data on 5,018 older people aged 52 or over, as they aged for six to eight year periods.
Researchers found that those living in the lower economic strata performed worse across all measures of age-related functionalities. The less wealthy lost grip strength and lung function. They also had slower gait speeds, lower processing speeds, and lower executive functions. The less affluent also tend to enjoy life less. Researchers noted that their findings were independent from race, gender or education. The researchers also found that people with lower incomes had more problems with vision and were more depressed.
Source:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-socioeconomic-status-people-declines-age-related.html
