TY - JOUR
T1 - Childhood socioeconomic position and objectively measured physical capability levels in adulthood
T2 - a systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Birnie, Kate
AU - Cooper, Rachel
AU - Martin, Richard M.
AU - Kuh, Diana
AU - Sayer, Avan Aihie
AU - Alvarado, Beatriz E.
AU - Bayer, Antony
AU - Christensen, Kaare
AU - Cho, Sung-il
AU - Cooper, Cyrus
AU - Corley, Janie
AU - Craig, Leone
AU - Deary, Ian J
AU - Demakakos, Panayotes
AU - Ebrahim, Shah
AU - Gallacher, John
AU - Gow, Alan J.
AU - Gunnell, David
AU - Haas, Steven
AU - Hemmingsson, Tomas
AU - Inskip, Hazel
AU - Jang, Soong-nang
AU - Noronha, Kenya
AU - Osler, Merete
AU - Palloni, Alberto
AU - Rasmussen, Finn
AU - Santos-Eggimann, Brigitte
AU - Spagnoli, Jacques
AU - Starr, John
AU - Steptoe, Andrew
AU - Syddall, Holly
AU - Tynelius, Per
AU - Weir, David
AU - Whalley, Lawrence J.
AU - Zunzunegui, Maria Victoria
AU - Ben-Shlomo, Yoav
AU - Hardy, Rebecca
AU - HALCyon Study Team
PY - 2011/1/26
Y1 - 2011/1/26
N2 - Background: Grip strength, walking speed, chair rising and standing balance time are objective measures of physical capability that characterise current health and predict survival in older populations. Socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood may influence the peak level of physical capability achieved in early adulthood, thereby affecting levels in later adulthood. We have undertaken a systematic review with meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood SEP is associated with lower levels of objectively measured physical capability in adulthood.Methods and Findings: Relevant studies published by May 2010 were identified through literature searches using EMBASE and MEDLINE. Unpublished results were obtained from study investigators. Results were provided by all study investigators in a standard format and pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. 19 studies were included in the review. Total sample sizes in meta-analyses ranged from N = 17,215 for chair rise time to N = 1,061,855 for grip strength. Although heterogeneity was detected, there was consistent evidence in age adjusted models that lower childhood SEP was associated with modest reductions in physical capability levels in adulthood: comparing the lowest with the highest childhood SEP there was a reduction in grip strength of 0.13 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.06, 0.21), a reduction in mean walking speed of 0.07 m/s (0.05, 0.10), an increase in mean chair rise time of 6% (4%, 8%) and an odds ratio of an inability to balance for 5s of 1.26 (1.02, 1.55). Adjustment for the potential mediating factors, adult SEP and body size attenuated associations greatly. However, despite this attenuation, for walking speed and chair rise time, there was still evidence of moderate associations.Conclusions: Policies targeting socioeconomic inequalities in childhood may have additional benefits in promoting the maintenance of independence in later life.
AB - Background: Grip strength, walking speed, chair rising and standing balance time are objective measures of physical capability that characterise current health and predict survival in older populations. Socioeconomic position (SEP) in childhood may influence the peak level of physical capability achieved in early adulthood, thereby affecting levels in later adulthood. We have undertaken a systematic review with meta-analyses to test the hypothesis that adverse childhood SEP is associated with lower levels of objectively measured physical capability in adulthood.Methods and Findings: Relevant studies published by May 2010 were identified through literature searches using EMBASE and MEDLINE. Unpublished results were obtained from study investigators. Results were provided by all study investigators in a standard format and pooled using random-effects meta-analyses. 19 studies were included in the review. Total sample sizes in meta-analyses ranged from N = 17,215 for chair rise time to N = 1,061,855 for grip strength. Although heterogeneity was detected, there was consistent evidence in age adjusted models that lower childhood SEP was associated with modest reductions in physical capability levels in adulthood: comparing the lowest with the highest childhood SEP there was a reduction in grip strength of 0.13 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.06, 0.21), a reduction in mean walking speed of 0.07 m/s (0.05, 0.10), an increase in mean chair rise time of 6% (4%, 8%) and an odds ratio of an inability to balance for 5s of 1.26 (1.02, 1.55). Adjustment for the potential mediating factors, adult SEP and body size attenuated associations greatly. However, despite this attenuation, for walking speed and chair rise time, there was still evidence of moderate associations.Conclusions: Policies targeting socioeconomic inequalities in childhood may have additional benefits in promoting the maintenance of independence in later life.
KW - FOLLOW-UP
KW - BOYD-ORR COHORT
KW - BIRTH COHORT
KW - HERTFORDSHIRE COHORT
KW - MUSCLE STRENGTH
KW - GRIP STRENGTH
KW - EARLY OLD-AGE
KW - CAUSE-SPECIFIC MORTALITY
KW - LIFE-COURSE APPROACH
KW - CORONARY-HEART-DISEASE
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0015564
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0015564
M3 - Literature review
C2 - 21297868
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 6
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 1
M1 - ARTN e15564
ER -