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Polick CS, Harris-Gersten ML, Dennis PA, Noonan D, Hastings SN, Calhoun PS, Rosemberg MA, Stoddard SA. Allostatic Load, Morbidity, and Mortality Among Older Adults: A Multi-Wave Analysis From the National Health and Aging Trends Study. J Appl Gerontol 2024:7334648241230010. [PMID: 38299792 DOI: 10.1177/07334648241230010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Although allostatic load (AL) is a key concept to reflect physiologic wear and tear from stress, older adults are underrepresented in AL-related research, especially the oldest old (≥80). Further, attenuative factors are often unaccounted for. This longitudinal analysis using data from National Health and Aging Trends Study investigated relationships of AL in 2017 and multi-wave (1) comorbidity accumulation using multilevel Poisson modeling and (2) mortality risk using survival analysis. By year five (2022), each incremental AL increase that older adults (n = 3614) experienced was associated with a 47% increase in comorbidity (p < .001), and a 33% increased mortality risk (p < .001). This research supports a shift to a more proactive, health promotion/risk mitigation paradigm through informing intervention research targeting AL, which is currently scarce. Identifying potentially modifiable and key driving factors influencing the relationship between AL and health among older adults is an important next step to inform intervention design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carri S Polick
- Center to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Melissa L Harris-Gersten
- Center to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA
- Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Paul A Dennis
- Center to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Devon Noonan
- Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Susan N Hastings
- Center to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation, Durham VA Health Care System, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Patrick S Calhoun
- VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
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