Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Epigenetic Aging in U.S. Hispanics/Latinos: Results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to be associated with a variety of poor health outcomes. While previous studies have shown low SES to be associated with increased epigenetic age and pace of aging, this study adds to current literature by assessing the relationship within a fully Hispanic/Latino cohort and assessing both traditional measures of SES (income, education) as well as measures of wealth. The current study applies linear mixed effects modeling using a subset (n= 782) of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) with repeated measures from Visit 1 and Visit 2. Significant associations were found between low educational attainment, low annual income, and low composite wealth score with increased epigenetic age (GrimAge) and increased pace of aging (DunedinPACE) after adjusting for age, gender, cigarette use, and cell type proportions. Examination of epigenetic clocks in Hispanic/Latino populations is important due to their differential exposure to both risk and protective factors that could result in a different epigenetic aging process and pace of aging compared to other racial and ethnic groups. 

Table of Contents

BACKGROUND...............................................................................................................................................3

METHODS .......................................................................................................................................................6

STUDY POPULATION................................................................................................................................................. 6

EPIGENETIC CLOCKS ................................................................................................................................................ 7

SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ........................................................................................................................................ 8

CONTROL VARIABLES............................................................................................................................................... 8

DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

RESULTS ..........................................................................................................................................................9

EDUCATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 10

INCOME .................................................................................................................................................................. 10

COMPOSITE WEALTH SCORE ................................................................................................................................. 11

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................................... 11

DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................................. 12

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................................14

FUNDING ....................................................................................................................................................... 15

REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................................16 TABLES........................................................................................................................................................... 21

TABLE 1. COMPONENTS OF THE COMPOSITE WEALTH SCORE ................................................................................ 21

TABLE 2. STUDY POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS FOR VISIT 1, SOCIO-CULTURAL ANCILLARY STUDY, AND VISIT 2

............................................................................................................................................................................... 22

TABLE 3. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EDUCATION LEVEL AND EAA .......................................................................... 22

TABLE 4. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN INCOME LEVEL AND EAA ................................................................................ 23

TABLE 5. ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COMPOSITE WEALTH SCORE AND AGE ACCELERATION .................................... 23

SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... 24

Table S1. Association between total estimated monetary assets and EAA ........................................... 24

Table S2. Association between amount of time one could live at their current standard of living if they lost their income and EAA.................................................................................................................... 24

Table S3. Association between number of vacations in the last 12 months and EAA ......................... 25

APPENDIX ..................................................................................................................................................... 26

PROBE FILTERING AND NORMALIZATION ............................................................................................................. 26

SAMPLE FILTERING................................................................................................................................................ 27 

About this Master's Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Epidemiology
Subfield / Discipline	Epidemiology - MPH & MSPH
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Epidemiology Health Sciences, Public Health Health Sciences, Aging
Keyword	Epigenetic Clocks Epigenetic Aging
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Suglia, Shakira, Emory University

Last modified

Primary PDF

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions
	File download under embargo until 20 May 2026	2024-04-25 16:53:53 -0400	File download under embargo until 20 May 2026

Supplemental Files

Thumbnail	Title	Date Uploaded	Actions