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Abstract #160148

Laura Chyu, MA and Dawn M. Upchurch, PhD. School of Public Health Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, (310) 794-9391, lchyu@ucla.edu

While recent research has investigated cumulative physiological dysregulation (CPD) as a potentially important pathway between the social environment and health outcomes in elderly populations, characterization of CPD among younger populations, such as midlife women, has yet to be described. Investigating CPD among midlife women could help elucidate how CPD accrues earlier in midlife and how it affects health at midlife, the menopausal transition, and older ages. CPD is the mechanism by which physiological stress responses chronically exceed optimal operating ranges and result in wear and tear on the body's regulatory systems, which may eventually lead to disease pathology and disability. We conduct a cross-sectional analysis of women ages 40-55 years using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999-2004. The NHANES data are unique in that there is extensive biomarker information from a nationally representative sample of the US population. We create a composite CPD measure using a range of biomarkers representing cardiovascular, immune, and metabolic system functioning. Regression results are presented for sociodemographic and health behavior correlates of CPD. Analyses are weighted and account for complex sample design. Our earlier work analyzing midlife women using a community-based sample suggests that higher CPD is associated with older age, lower socioeconomic status, and disadvantaged minority groups; we expect to find similar trends among this national sample of midlife women. Information on women at risk for higher CPD and thus health problems in older age is potentially useful for clinical and public health interventions at earlier life stages.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand why a national profile of CPD among midlife women is important.
• Identify relevant biomarkers for creating a composite CPD score for midlife women.
• Describe sociodemographic and health behavior correlates of CPD among midlife women.
• Discuss public health and clinical implications of CPD as well as directions for future research.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.