Browsing by Author "Noppert, Grace A"

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    Social determinants of health and survival in humans and other animals.
    (Science (New York, N.Y.), 2020-05) Snyder-Mackler, Noah; Burger, Joseph Robert; Gaydosh, Lauren; Belsky, Daniel W; Noppert, Grace A; Campos, Fernando A; Bartolomucci, Alessandro; Yang, Yang Claire; Aiello, Allison E; O'Rand, Angela; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Shively, Carol A; Alberts, Susan C; Tung, Jenny
    The social environment, both in early life and adulthood, is one of the strongest predictors of morbidity and mortality risk in humans. Evidence from long-term studies of other social mammals indicates that this relationship is similar across many species. In addition, experimental studies show that social interactions can causally alter animal physiology, disease risk, and life span itself. These findings highlight the importance of the social environment to health and mortality as well as Darwinian fitness-outcomes of interest to social scientists and biologists alike. They thus emphasize the utility of cross-species analysis for understanding the predictors of, and mechanisms underlying, social gradients in health.
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    The Impact of Multiple Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status on Physical Functioning Across the Life Course.
    (Gerontology & geriatric medicine, 2018-01) Noppert, Grace A; Brown, Candace S; Chanti-Ketterl, Marianne; Hall, Katherine S; Newby, L Kristin; Cohen, Harvey Jay; Morey, Miriam C
    Objective: We used the Physical Performance Across the LifeSpan Study to investigate the relationships of multiple indicators of socioeconomic status (SES), both in early life and late life, with physical function. Method: We examined associations between multiple early and late life SES indicators with physical function measured by aerobic endurance, gait speed, and lower body strength. Results: Higher participant education and household income were associated with increased physical function. In our age-stratified analysis, we observed widening SES disparities with increasing age among those in the two younger strata with lower SES associated with worse physical function. Finally, we observed an association between socioeconomic trend and gait speed, aerobic endurance, and lower body strength. There was also an association between lower aerobic endurance and being in a downward socioeconomic trend. Discussion: These findings highlight the significance of considering multiple dimensions of the social environment as important correlates of physical functioning across the life course.