Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults
Abstract Average life expectancies have lengthened across human history. As a result, there is an increased need to care for a greater number of individuals experiencing common age-related declines in health. This has helped to spur a rapidly increasing focus on understanding “health span”, the port...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2022-12-01
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| Series: | BMC Geriatrics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03440-6 |
| _version_ | 1811188713585115136 |
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| author | Brian B. Boutwell Chelsey S. Narvey Jesse J. Helton Alex R. Piquero |
| author_facet | Brian B. Boutwell Chelsey S. Narvey Jesse J. Helton Alex R. Piquero |
| author_sort | Brian B. Boutwell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Average life expectancies have lengthened across human history. As a result, there is an increased need to care for a greater number of individuals experiencing common age-related declines in health. This has helped to spur a rapidly increasing focus on understanding “health span”, the portion of the life-course spent functionally healthy. Yet to penetrate the science of health span, however, is a topic which seems fundamental to the ability to age in functional and healthy ways, and has received considerable attention in other fields. As more of the population ages, the risk of exposure to abuse and neglect among older citizens not only rises, but can manifest as both cause and effect of declining health span. Among our goals here is to make a case for including this subject among the other central components of health span science. In so doing, we also outline reasons why quantitative genetic designs using samples of twins can be a versatile tool for improving causal inference when studying maltreatment among older persons specifically, but also on a range of other health span topics in general. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:24:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3a43a76006d14d0093c4c6b0d5983ced |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2318 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:24:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Geriatrics |
| spelling | doaj.art-3a43a76006d14d0093c4c6b0d5983ced2022-12-22T04:18:56ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182022-12-012211910.1186/s12877-022-03440-6Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adultsBrian B. Boutwell0Chelsey S. Narvey1Jesse J. Helton2Alex R. Piquero3The University of Mississippi, University of Mississippi Medical CenterDepartment of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Sam Houston State UniversitySaint Louis UniversityDepartment of Sociology and Criminology, University of MiamiAbstract Average life expectancies have lengthened across human history. As a result, there is an increased need to care for a greater number of individuals experiencing common age-related declines in health. This has helped to spur a rapidly increasing focus on understanding “health span”, the portion of the life-course spent functionally healthy. Yet to penetrate the science of health span, however, is a topic which seems fundamental to the ability to age in functional and healthy ways, and has received considerable attention in other fields. As more of the population ages, the risk of exposure to abuse and neglect among older citizens not only rises, but can manifest as both cause and effect of declining health span. Among our goals here is to make a case for including this subject among the other central components of health span science. In so doing, we also outline reasons why quantitative genetic designs using samples of twins can be a versatile tool for improving causal inference when studying maltreatment among older persons specifically, but also on a range of other health span topics in general.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03440-6Quantitative geneticsHealth spanQuasi-experimentalCausalityTwins |
| spellingShingle | Brian B. Boutwell Chelsey S. Narvey Jesse J. Helton Alex R. Piquero Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults BMC Geriatrics Quantitative genetics Health span Quasi-experimental Causality Twins |
| title | Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| title_full | Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| title_fullStr | Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| title_short | Why twin studies are important for health span science research: the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| title_sort | why twin studies are important for health span science research the case of maltreatment of aging adults |
| topic | Quantitative genetics Health span Quasi-experimental Causality Twins |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-022-03440-6 |
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