title: Older adults with higher income or marriage have longer telomeres.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  telomere length has been used to represent biological ageing and is found to be associated with various physiological, psychological and social factors.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to explore the effects of income and marriage on leucocyte telomere length in a representative sample of older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  cross-sectional analysis among 298 adults, aged 65-74, randomly selected from the community by census.
  
  
  METHODS
  telomere length was measured by quantitative PCR. Participants provided information on sociodemographics, physical illness and completed questionnaires rating mental state and perceived neighbourhood experience.
  
  
  RESULTS
  telomere length was negatively associated with lower income [coefficient -0.141 (95% CI: -0.244 to -0.020), P = 0.021] and positively associated with the marital status [coefficient 0.111 (95% CI: -0.008 to 0.234), P = 0.067] when controlling for gender, age, educational level, physical diseases (including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular disease and Parkinson's disease), depressive symptoms, minor mental symptoms, cognitive impairment and perceived neighbourhood experience (including social support, perceived security and public facilities).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  these results indicate that older adults with higher income or being married have longer telomeres when other sociodemographics, physical diseases, mental status and neighbourhood experience are adjusted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, E-Da Hospital, 1 Yi-Da Road, Yan-Chau District, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan. jackycyen@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Yung-Chieh
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: For-Wey
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Lung
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D016615:Telomere / Q000378:metabolism*; D059506:Telomere Shortening