Characteristics of participants and their rank-order correlations with ageing biomarkers and mortality (n=758)
| Characteristics | Mean (SD) or number (%) | Correlation with leucocyte telomere length | Correlation with accelerated DNA methylation GrimAge | Correlation with brain-PAD | Correlation with death during follow-up |
| n=758 | n=715 | n=622 | n=758 | ||
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 72.5 (0.71) | 0.075 (p=0.039) | 0.028 (p=0.463) | 0.016 (p=0.695) | −0.046 (p=0.205) |
| Female, number (%) | 364 (48.0) | −0.128 (p=0.004) | −0.459 (p<0.001) | −0.300 (p<0.001) | −0.111 (p=0.002) |
| Number of years in education, mean (SD) | 10.8 (1.14) | −0.037 (p=0.312) | −0.131 (p=0.001) | 0.012 (p=0.770) | −0.041 (p=0.268) |
| Non-manual social class,* number (%) | 595 (78.5) | 0.027 (p=0.464) | 0.185 (p<0.001) | 0.035 (p=0.385) | 0.139 (p=0.0001) |
| Number of chronic diseases, mean (SD) | 1.55 (1.09) | 0.046 (p=0.208) | 0.113 (p=0.002) | 0.079 (p=0.045) | 0.126 (p=0.001) |
| HADS-A score, mean (SD) | 4.49 (3.10) | −0.007 (p=0.842) | −0.114 (p=0.002) | −0.103 (p=0.011) | −0.001 (p=0.978) |
| HADS-D score, mean (SD) | 2.51 (2.07) | −0.014 (p=0.704) | 0.086 (p=0.021) | 0.086 (p=0.032) | 0.104 (p=0.004) |
| Smoking status | −0.018 (p=0.614) | 0.477 (p<0.001) | 0.098 (p=0.014) | 0.191 (p<0.001) | |
| Never smoked, number (%) | 372 (49.1) | ||||
| Ex-smoker, number (%) | 326 (43.0) | ||||
| Current smoker, number (%) | 60 (7.92) | ||||
| Number of days alcohol is consumed per week, mean (SD) | 2.70 (2.68) | 0.015 (p=0.672) | 0.133 (p=0.004) | 0.130 (p=0.001) | −0.031 (p=0.397) |
| Time taken to walk 6 metres, mean (SD) | 4.27 (1.10) | −0.025 (p=0.486) | 0.090 (p=0.016) | 0.033 (p=0.407) | 0.128 (p=0.004) |
| Attitudes to ageing | |||||
| Physical change, mean (SD) | 28.0 (5.11) | −0.023 (p=0.525) | −0.178 (p<0.001) | −0.123 (p=0.002) | −0.206 (p<0.001) |
| Psychosocial loss, mean (SD) | 15.2 (4.79) | 0.003 (p=0.938) | 0.085 (p=0.023) | 0.012 (p=0.628) | 0.126 (p=0.005) |
| Psychological growth, mean (SD) | 28.3 (4.33) | −0.005 (p=0.890) | −0.033 (p=0.386) | −0.023 (p=0.567) | −0.067 (p=0.065) |
| Brain-PAD, mean (SD) | 1.38 (8.43) | 0.038 (p=0.349) | 0.198 (p<0.001) | – | 0.142 (p=0.001) |
| Telomere length, mean (SD) | 3971.41 (733.0) | – | 0.046 (p=0.227) | 0.038 (p=0.349) | 0.0001 (p=0.998) |
| Accelerated DNA methylation GrimAge, mean (SD) | −0.28 (4.75) | 0.046 (p=0.227) | – | 0.198 (p<0.001) | 0.209 (p<0.001) |
| Died during follow-up, number (%) | 147 (19.4) | 0.0001 (p=0.998) | 0.209 (p<0.001) | 0.142 (p=0.001) | – |
*Correlations with social class are based on the six-category occupational social class variable.
Brain-PAD, brain-predicted age difference; DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid; HADS-A, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, anxiety score; HADS-D, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, depression score.