Socioeconomic Factors and Telomere Length in a Sample of African American Men Open Access

Abstract

A substantial body of literature has documented socioeconomic and racial disparities in health. African American men experience particularly adverse aging-related health outcomes. A growing area of research examines the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on biological functioning. Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is a biomarker of cell aging. Previous studies of the association between SES and LTL have used varied measures of SES and have produced mixed results. The present study examines the association between multiple measures of SES and LTL in a sample of 92 African American men between 30 and 50 years of age. Measures of SES used were income, financial strain, education, and work status. LTL was measured with a polymerase chain reaction assay from dried blood spot samples collected using a micro-lancet. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to predict short, medium, and long tertiles of LTL. Income (p = .043) and financial strain (p = .029) were significantly associated with LTL. A significant interaction was found between employment status and education. Educational attainment was significantly associated with LTL only among those not employed (p = .034). These results suggest that SES is related to biological aging among midlife African American men. The biological aging associated with SES represents a possible mechanism leading to adverse aging-related outcomes for this population.

Table of Contents

Chapter I - Introduction ................................................................................1

Chapter II - Literature Review ........................................................................3

Chapter III - Methods ...................................................................................6

Chapter IV - Results ....................................................................................10

Chapter V - Discussion ................................................................................11

References ................................................................................................15

Appendix A: Tables .....................................................................................24

Appendix B: Figures ....................................................................................29

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Behavioral Sciences and Health Education
Degree	MPH
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health Biology, Cell Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Keyword	Health Disparities Socioeconomic Status Cell Biology Social Epidemiology Financial Strain Midlife Men Biological Aging Telomeres African American
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Chae, David, Emory University
Committee Members	Cooper, Hannah, Emory University
Partnering Agencies	University, college or educational institution (other than Emory)

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