Socioeconomic factors from midlife predict mobility limitation and depressed mood three decades later; findings from the AGES-Reykjavik Study.

• Published in: BMC Public Health
• Main Authors: Groffen, Daniëlle A I, Koster, Annemarie, Bosma, Hans, van den Akker, Marjan, Aspelund, Thor, Siggeirsdóttir, Kristín, Kempen, Gertrudis I J M, van Eijk, Jacques Th M, Eiriksdottir, Gudny, Jónsson, Pálmi V, Launer, Lenore J, Gudnason, Vilmundur, Harris, Tamara B
• Other Authors: Maastricht Univ, CAPHRI Sch Publ Hlth & Primary Care, Dept Social Med, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands, Maastricht Univ, Sch Publ Hlth & Primary Care CAPHRI, Dept Gen Practice, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands, Katholieke Univ Leuven, Dept Gen Practice, Louvain, Belgium, Iceland Heart Assoc, Kopavogur, Iceland, Univ Iceland, Fac Med, Reykjavik, Iceland, Maastricht Univ, CAPHRI Sch Publ Hlth & Primary Care, Dept Hlth Serv Res, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands, NIA, Lab Epidemiol Demog & Biometry, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central 2013
• Subjects: Þunglyndi; Félagsleg staða; Heilbrigðisþjónusta; Hreyfihömlun; Adult; Aged; Cohort Studies; Depression; Female; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Iceland; Male; Middle Aged; Mobility Limitation; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/324268; https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-101

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access. Taking into account our rapidly ageing population, older people are of particular interest in studying health inequalities. Most studies of older persons only include measures of current socioeconomic status (SES) and do not take into account data from earlier stages of life. In addition, only classic SES measures are used, while alternative measures, such as car ownership and house ownership, might equally well predict health. The present study aims to examine the effect of midlife socioeconomic factors on mobility limitation and depressed mood three decades later. Data were from 4,809 men and women aged 33-65 years who participated in the Reykjavik Study (1967-1992) and who were re-examined in old age in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES) -Reykjavik Study (2002-2006). Education and occupation predicted mobility limitation and depressed mood. Independently, home and car ownership and the availability of housing features predicted mobility limitation. Shortages of food in childhood and lack of a car in midlife predicted depressed mood. Socioeconomic factors from midlife and from childhood affect mobility limitation and depressed mood in old age. Prevention of health problems in old age should begin as early as midlife. NIH/N01-AG-12100 NIA Intramural Research Program Hjartavernd (the Icelandic Heart Association) Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament)