Social Gradient in Allostatic Load among Danish Men and Women in Late Midlife.

OBJECTIVE:The objective of the present study is to describe the prevalence of allostatic load (AL) among Danish men and women in late midlife, and if there is a social gradient in AL.METHOD:A total of 5,420 participants from the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) aged 48 to 63 years (68.5% men, 31.5% women) underwent a health examination including standardized measures of height, weight, body fat, and blood pressure in 2009-2011. AL (range 0-14) was established by summing the scores of the poorest quartile for each of 14 biological variables related to the metabolic and immune systems.RESULTS:We found a social gradient in AL in late midlife among men and women living in Denmark.DISCUSSION:AL may be a potential biomarker for early aging in countries with a strong social welfare system. It is important for intervention studies to be aware of this type of biological vulnerability already present in late midlife.