Education predicts incidence of preclinical mobility disability in initially high-functioning older women. The Women's Health and Aging Study II

• Published in: The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences Vol. 66; no. 5; p. 577
• Main Authors: Gregory, Patricia C, Szanton, Sarah L, Xue, Qian-Li, Tian, Jing, Thorpe, Roland J, Fried, Linda P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.2011
• Subjects: Aged; Cohort Studies; Demography; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Mobility Limitation; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors
• ISSN: 1758-535X
• DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glr023

To examine the impact of educational attainment on the incidence of preclinical mobility disability (PCD). The Women's Health and Aging II Study is a prospective observational cohort study of 436 initially high-functioning community-dwelling women aged 70-79 years at baseline in Baltimore, Maryland. We measured the association of highest attained education level with preclinical mobility disability (PCD) over an 11-year period. PCD is defined as self-reported modification in any of four tasks without reporting difficulty in those tasks. The tasks were walking ½ mile, climbing up steps, doing heavy housework, and getting in/out of bed or chair. Participants with less than 9 years of education were more likely to acquire incident PCD (hazard ratio: 3.1, 95% confidence interval = 1.2-7.7) than their counterparts with more education after adjusting for income, marital status, number of diseases, and high self-efficacy. Lower education level is an independent predictor of incident preclinical mobility disability. This association has important implications for primary and secondary prevention and can be easily assessed in clinical encounters.