Document Type
Article
Department
Brain and Mind Institute
Abstract
Background: Global health challenges like aging and dementia are shaped bysocioeconomic disparities, environmental factors, and social determinants of health.We developed a behavioral age gap (BAG), measuring the difference between expectedbehavioral age and chronological age
Method: We utilized a cross-sectional sample (n = 161,981) comprising countriesfrom Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Behavioral age was estimated usinga Gradient Boosting Regressor with 10-fold cross-validation, incorporating multiplerisk factors (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, female sex, visual impairment andhearing impairment) and protective factors (cognition, functional ability, education)associated with healthy aging. BAG was calculated as the difference between predictedand chronological age, and adjusted gaps were derived from the residuals of regressingBAG on chronological age.
Result: Chronological age was accurately estimated using biobehavioral predictors.Key protective predictors were functional ability, education, and cognition, whilemain risks were hearing impairment, heart disease, and hypertension. Participantswere categorized into delayed or accelerated aging groups to explore biobehavioralfactors in aging. Both models demonstrated high predictive accuracy, especiallyfor accelerated aging. BAGs varied significantly across regions and income levels,increasing from Europe to Asia, LA, and Africa. Participants from LIC displayedaccelerated aging compared to HIC. Adverse exposomes were linked to acceleratedaging with large effect sizes.
Conclusion: This work positions BAGs as markers of aging disparities, emphasizingthe influence of inequalities and exposomes, while providing measures for targetedinterventions and research.
AKU Student
no
Publication (Name of Journal)
Alzheimer's & Dementia
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/alz70860_099534
Recommended Citation
Hernandez, H.,
Santamaria-Garcia, H.,
Moguilne, S.,
Legaz, A.,
Prado, P.,
Cuadros, J.,
Gonzalez, L.,
Mostert, C.,
Momoh, C.,
Merali, Z.
(2025). Predicting accelerated and delayed aging in global settings: biobehavioral age gaps and the role of global exposomes. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(4), e099534.
Available at:
https://ecommons.aku.edu/bmi/495
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