Cited by 108Health disparities and outcomesAging, Health, and DisabilityIntergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

Lifetime Socioeconomic Inequalities in Physical and Cognitive Aging

Open access
Hurst, Louise, Stafford, Mai, Cooper, Rachel, Hardy, Rebecca, Richards, Marcus, Kuh, Diana·2013·American Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives. We examined the relationship between childhood and adult socioeconomic position (SEP) and objectively assessed, later-life functioning. Methods. We used the Medical Research Council’s National Survey of Health and Development data to examine performance at 60 to 64 years (obtained in 2006–2011) for a representative UK sample. We compared 9 physical and cognitive performance measures (forced expiratory volume, forced vital capacity, handgrip strength, chair rise time, standing balance time, timed get up and go speed, verbal memory score, processing speed, and simple reaction time) over the SEP distribution. Results. Each performance measure was socially graded. Those at the top of the childhood SEP distribution had between 7% and 20% better performance than those at the bottom. Inequalities generally persisted after adjustment for adult SEP. When we combined the 9 performance measures, the relative difference was 66% (95% confidence interval = 53%, 78%). Conclusions. Public health practice should monitor and target inequalities in functional performance, as well as risk of disease and death. Effective strategies will need to affect the social determinants of health in early life to influence inequalities into old age.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2105/ajph.2013.301240

Cites

41 of 41 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Hurst, L., Stafford, M., Cooper, R., Hardy, R., Richards, M., & Kuh, D.
Affiliations
MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing (GB)
Venue
American Journal of Public Health
Published
2013-09
Volume
103
Issue
9
Pages
1641-1648
ISSN
  • 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
  • 1541-0048
OpenAlex
W2164365654
Cited by
108
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 8
FWCI
9.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute for Health and Care Research (PAS/01/PDA/021)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
Keywords
socioeconomic disparities, aging, physical function, cognitive function, childhood socioeconomic position, social determinants of health, functional performance, older adults, National Survey of Health and Development, health disparities
MeSH terms
Activities of Daily Living, Aging, Cognition, Postural Balance, Female, Forced Expiratory Volume, United Kingdom, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neuropsychology, Social Class, Socioeconomic Factors, Vital Capacity, Hand Strength, Health Status Disparities

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review