Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010 Mar;65B(2):246-55. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp102. Epub 2009 Dec 9.
This study investigated the dynamics and heterogeneity of the frailty index (FI) conceived as a systemic indicator of biological aging in the community-dwelling older adult population in the United States.
We used panel data on multiple birth cohorts from the Health and Retirement Survey 1993-2006 and growth curve models to estimate age trajectories of the FI and their differences by sex, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) within cohorts.
The FI for cohorts born before 1942 exhibit quadratic increases with age and accelerated increases in the accumulation of health deficits. More recent cohorts exhibit higher average levels of and rates of increment in the FI than their predecessors do at the same ages. Females, non-Whites, and individuals with low education and income exhibit greater degrees of physiological deregulation than their male, White, and high-SES counterparts at any age. Patterns of sex, race, and SES differentials in rates of aging vary across cohorts.
Adjusting for social behavioral factors, the analysis provides evidence for physiological differences in the aging process among recent cohorts of older adults, points to the need for biological explanations of female excess in general system damage, and reveals the insufficiency of any single mechanism for depicting the racial and SES differences in the process of physiological deterioration.
本研究旨在调查衰弱指数（FI）的动态变化和异质性，衰弱指数被视为美国社区居住的老年人群体中生物衰老的系统指标。
我们使用来自健康与退休调查 1993-2006 年的多个人群队列的面板数据和增长曲线模型来估计 FI 的年龄轨迹，以及队列内按性别、种族和社会经济地位（SES）划分的 FI 差异。
出生于 1942 年前的队列的 FI 呈二次递增，健康缺陷的积累呈加速增加。与前几代人在相同年龄相比，最近的队列表现出更高的 FI 平均水平和增量率。在任何年龄，女性、非裔美国人以及受教育程度和收入较低的个体，其生理失调程度都大于其男性、白人以及高 SES 对应者。性别、种族和 SES 在衰老速度方面的差异模式在不同队列中有所不同。
调整社会行为因素后，该分析为最近几代老年人群体衰老过程中的生理差异提供了证据，表明需要对女性在一般系统损伤方面的过剩现象进行生物学解释，并揭示了任何单一机制都不足以描述生理恶化过程中的种族和 SES 差异。
