Socioeconomic gradients in biological age acceleration across 12 SHARE countries
In cross-sectional 2015 SHARE data on 10,043 adults aged 50–75 in 12 countries, most socioeconomic measures showed inverse associations with KDM biological age acceleration, varying in size but broadly consistent in direction across countries. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
Cross-sectional analyses used 2015 SHARE data on 10,043 adults aged 50–75 in 12 countries, with health follow-up through Wave 9. [1]
Six of seven pooled coefficients were inverse, from −0.067 SD for highest parental education to −0.221 for wealth rank. [1]
The authors report that KDM age acceleration predicted subsequent health outcomes and that the pooled pattern was reproduced across alternative specifications. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Cross-sectional analyses of survey data with health follow-up
- Population / context
- 10,043 adults aged 50–75 years in 12 European countries (SHARE, 2015).
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
- Publication status
- Preprint · peer-review status not confirmed
- Original publication
- September 16, 2026
Cross-sectional SHARE data on 10,043 adults
The analyses were cross-sectional and used 2015 data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) on 10,043 adults aged 50–75 years in 12 countries, with health follow-up through Wave 9. Biological age acceleration came from the sex-calibrated Klemera–Doubal method (KDM), which combined nine physiological indicators. Four stand-alone socioeconomic indicators were examined: respondent education, highest parental education, wealth and income. Education-based relational specifications covered educational mobility and jointly modelled parental and respondent education ranks.
Supporting source [1]
Mostly inverse coefficients, wealth rank strongest
Six of seven pooled coefficients were inverse, ranging from −0.067 standard deviations for highest parental education to −0.221 for wealth rank. The mutually adjusted parental education rank was close to zero (β = −0.017). A common-sample omnibus test showed overall variation among the seven specification-specific coefficients. The authors describe the gradients as predominantly inverse but varying in magnitude across representations of socioeconomic position, with direction broadly shared across countries and between-country heterogeneity varying by representation.
Supporting source [1]
Abstract-only scope and association limits
The abstract reports that KDM age acceleration predicted subsequent health outcomes and that the pooled socioeconomic pattern was reproduced across alternative weighting and biomarker specifications. These are associations in cross-sectional analyses, not evidence that socioeconomic position causes biological age acceleration. Only the abstract was reviewed; the full text was not reviewed, so details of the models, the omnibus test result and the follow-up analyses remain unverified here.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
Abstract only; the full text was not reviewed. The analyses are cross-sectional, so the reported socioeconomic gradients are associations, not causal effects. Details of the omnibus test result and follow-up analyses are not verifiable from the abstract.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Guo H. · europepmc.org · September 16, 2026