Lisa F. Berkman's research while affiliated with Centre for Health and Population Studies and other places
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Publications (506)
Objectives. To examine whether workplace interventions to increase workplace flexibility and supervisor support and decrease work–family conflict can reduce cardiometabolic risk.
Methods. We randomly assigned employees from information technology (n = 555) and long-term care (n = 973) industries in the United States to the Work, Family and Health N...
Objectives: The aging of the South African population could have profound implications for the independence and overall quality of life of older adults as life expectancy increases. While there is evidence that lifetime socio-economic status shapes risks for later function and disability, it is unclear whether, and how, the wealth of family members...
Background
The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) is an innovative instrument for cross-national comparisons of later-life cognitive function, yet its suitability across diverse populations is unknown. We aimed to harmonise general and domain-specific cognitive scores from HCAP studies across six countries, and evaluate reliability and...
Objective
More than one in four adults over 40 with HIV in South Africa are unaware of their status and not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIV self-testing may offer a powerful approach to closing this gap for aging adults. Here, we report the results of a randomized comparative effectiveness trial of three different home-based HIV testing...
Objectives:
To quantify how poor health and inhospitable working conditions each contribute to educational disparities in work disability in mid-life and old age.
Methods:
We used the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2016) to examine educational disparities in reporting "any impairment or health problem that limits the kind or amount of paid wo...
Introduction:
While it is widely acknowledged that family relationships can influence health outcomes, their impact on the uptake of individual health interventions is unclear. In this study, we quantified how the efficacy of a randomized health intervention is shaped by its pattern of distribution in the family network.
Methods:
The "Home-Based...
The detrimental effects of loneliness and social isolation on health and well-being outcomes are well documented. In response, governments, corporations, and community-based organizations have begun leveraging tools to create interventions and policies aimed at reducing loneliness and social isolation at scale. However, these efforts are frequently...
Telomere length (TL) may be a biomarker of aging processes as well as age-related diseases. However, most studies of TL and aging are conducted in high-income countries. Less is known in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa, where life expectancy remains lower despite population aging. We conducted a descriptive analysis of...
Background: The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) is an innovative instrument for cross-national comparisons of later-life cognitive function, yet its suitability across diverse populations is unknown. We aimed to harmonize general and domain-specific cognitive scores from HCAPs across six countries, and evaluate precision and criteri...
Introduction:
We describe the development and feasibility of using an online consensus approach for diagnosing cognitive impairment and dementia in rural South Africa.
Methods:
Cognitive assessments, clinical evaluations, and informant interviews from Cognition and Dementia in the Health and Aging in Africa Longitudinal Study (HAALSI Dementia) w...
Background:
Allostatic load (AL) is a multi-system composite index for quantifying physiological dysregulation caused by life course stressors. For over 30 years, an extensive body of research has drawn on the AL framework but has been hampered by the lack of a consistent definition.
Methods:
This study analyses data for 67,126 individuals aged...
Two-thirds of people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) live in low- and middle-income countries, and this figure is expected to rise as these populations are rapidly aging. Since evidence demonstrates links between socioeconomic status and slower rates of cognitive decline, protecting older adults' cognitive function in r...
Cognitive function is an indicator for global physical and mental health, and cognitive impairment has been associated with poorer life outcomes and earlier mortality. A standard cognition test, adapted to a rural-dwelling African community, and the Oxford Cognition Screen-Plus were used to capture cognitive performance as five continuous traits (t...
Cash transfers are a promising but understudied intervention that may protect cognitive function in adults by promoting their cognitive reserve. South Africa has a rapidly ageing population, however, less is known about the nature of association between cash transfers and cognitive function in this setting. We leveraged natural experiments from Chi...
The COVID-19 pandemic piqued interest in remote work, but research yields mixed findings on the impact of working from home on workers’ well-being and job attitudes. The authors develop a conceptual distinction between working from home that occurs during regular work hours (replacement work-from-home) and working from home that occurs outside of t...
Material resources that affect daily living conditions may be salient for cognitive aging in low-income settings, but evidence is limited on this topic. We investigated relationships between long-term trends in household material resources and subsequent cognitive function among 4,580 adults aged ≥40 in a population-representative cohort in Agincou...
With an aging population and growing inequality, America is at a crossroads in its approach to work and retirement. Americans live longer and healthier lives than they did 50 years ago and they need income for more years of life. Many policymakers and academics think it is logical – almost inevitable – that Americans will work longer, delay retirem...
With an aging population and growing inequality, America is at a crossroads in its approach to work and retirement. Americans live longer and healthier lives than they did 50 years ago and they need income for more years of life. Many policymakers and academics think it is logical – almost inevitable – that Americans will work longer, delay retirem...
With an aging population and growing inequality, America is at a crossroads in its approach to work and retirement. Americans live longer and healthier lives than they did 50 years ago and they need income for more years of life. Many policymakers and academics think it is logical – almost inevitable – that Americans will work longer, delay retirem...
Material resources owned by households that affect daily living conditions may be salient for cognitive health during aging, especially in low-income settings, but there is scarce evidence on this topic. We investigated relationships between long-term trends in household material resources and cognitive function among older adults in a population-r...
With an aging population and growing inequality, America is at a crossroads in its approach to work and retirement. Americans live longer and healthier lives than they did 50 years ago and they need income for more years of life. Many policymakers and academics think it is logical – almost inevitable – that Americans will work longer, delay retirem...
Background:
Parental leave policies have been hypothesized to benefit mothers' mental health. We assessed the impact of a 6-week extension of parental leave in Denmark on maternal mental health.
Methods:
We linked individual-level data from Danish national registries on maternal sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric diagnoses. A regre...
Increased lethality and availability of addictive substances has strained US addiction treatment services, further exacerbating workforce shortages in these settings. The emotional and physical health toll of providing treatment may contribute to shortages. This community-initiated qualitative study aimed to identify conditions that affect provider...
Background
Social capital theory conceptualizes accessed status (the socioeconomic status of social contacts) as interpersonal resources that generate positive health returns, while social cost theory suggests that accessed status can harm health due to the sociopsychological costs of generating and maintaining these relationships. Evidence for bot...
Background: With aging, many people develop Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD) as well as chronic physical health problems. The consequent care needs can be complicated, with heavy demands on families, households and communities, especially in resource-constrained settings with limited formal care services. However, research on ADRD ca...
Background: With aging, many people develop Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD) as well as chronic physical health problems. The consequent care needs can be complicated, with heavy demands on families, households and communities, especially in resource-constrained settings with limited formal care services. However, research on ADRD ca...
In this commentary invited for the 100th anniversary of AJE, we discuss the addition of randomized experiments, along with natural experiments that emulate randomized trials using observational data, as designs in the social epidemiologist’s toolbox. These approaches transform the way we define and ask questions about social exposures. They compel...
Background
Evidence suggests a link between depressive symptoms and risk of subsequent stroke. However, most studies assess depressive symptoms at only one timepoint, with few examining this relationship using repeatedly measured depressive symptoms. This study aimed to examine the relationship between depressive symptom trajectories and risk of in...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.689756.].
Countries are advancing retirement age as life expectancy advances. But increases in healthy life expectancy are not keeping pace with total life expectancy, lengthening the portion of life spent with disability and threatening the capacity of individuals to work longer. Now, a study forecasts healthy life expectancy for people in England in 2035.
The original cohort
The Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) is a harmonized sister study to the United States Health and Retirement Study (HRS).¹ HAALSI is an ongoing multidisciplinary population-based study with longitudinal data on social, economic, biological, physical and mental heal...
The misuse of prescription painkillers is a major contributor to the ongoing drug overdose epidemic. This study investigated variability in non-medical use of prescription painkillers (NMUPP) by race and early-life socioeconomic status (SES) in a sample now at increased risk for opioid overdose. Data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Stud...
Eviction upends children's lives and exacerbates deprivation; it remains largely unexamined as a determinant of cognitive development. We assess whether children evicted in infancy, early childhood, and middle childhood exhibit lower scores on four cognitive assessments (measuring executive function, mathematical reasoning, written language skills,...
Apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) 𝜀4 allele carrier status is well known for its association with an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but its independent role in cognitive function is unclear. APOE genetic variation is understudied in African populations; hence, this cross-sectional study in a rural South African community examined a...
Perceptions of HIV acquisition risk and prevalence shape sexual behavior in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We used data from the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa baseline survey. Data were collected through home-based interviews of 5059 people ≥ 40 years old. We elicited information on perceived ri...
Background
The relationship between subjective social position (SSP) and cognitive ageing unclear, especially in low-income settings. We aimed to investigate the relationship between SSP and cognitive function over time among older adults in rural South Africa.
Methods
Data were from 3771 adults aged ≥40 in the population-representative ‘Health an...
Importance
More than 17 million people in the US provide uncompensated care for adults with physical or cognitive limitations. Such caregiving is associated with worse mental and physical health, yet little research has investigated how publicly funded home care might ameliorate these harms.
Objective
To investigate the association between Medicai...
Work is a key social determinant of population health and well-being. Yet, efforts to improve worker well-being in the United States are often focused on changing individual health behaviors via employer wellness programs. The COVID-19 health crisis has brought into sharp relief some of the limitations of current approaches, revealing structural co...
Objectives
Multimorbidity is associated with mortality in high-income countries. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between multimorbidity (≥2 of the following chronic medical conditions: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, anaemia, HIV, angina, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol dependence) and all-cause mortalit...
As a social determinant of health, work influences the health and well-being of workers. Interventions to change the conditions of work are an important complement to individually-focused wellness initiatives. This systematic literature review identified organisational- and group-level workplace intervention studies using experimental or quasi-expe...
Importance
Cognitive resilience refers to the general capacity of cognitive processes to be less susceptible to differences in brain structure from age- and disease-related changes. Studies suggest that supportive social networks reduce Alzheimer disease and related disorder (ADRD) risk by enhancing cognitive resilience, but data on specific social...
Background:
Reducing hypertension represents a critical point of intervention to lower the burden of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Although the relationship between lower socioeconomic status and higher rates of hypertension is well documented, most of the evidence comes from prevalence studies involving young adult population.
Aim:
To inves...
Background
Gender differences in life expectancy and societal roles have implications for a country's capacity to support its older population. Specifically, the longevity risk associated with longer life expectancy of women, with greater risk of morbidity entails different needs between genders in older age. We aimed to quantify gender differences...
Objectives
We investigated concordance between haemoglobin A1c (HbA 1 c)-defined diabetes and fasting plasma glucose (FPG)-defined diabetes in a black South African population with a high prevalence of obesity.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting
Rural South African population-based cohort.
Participants
765 black individuals aged 40–70 years a...
Objectives: Our study investigates measurement, correlates, and functional associations of vision impairment (VI) in an aging population in rural South Africa. Methods: 1582 participants aged 40–69 reported on near (NVI) and distance vision impairment (DVI) and completed objective vision tests. Logistic and linear regression were used to evaluate s...
Introduction:
Despite rapid population aging, there are currently limited data on the incidence of aging-related cognitive impairment in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to determine the incidence of cognitive impairment and its distribution across key demographic, social, and health-related factors among older adults in rural South Africa.
Methods:...
Adverse birth outcomes put children at increased risk of poor future health. They also put families under sudden socioeconomic and psychological strain, which has poorly understood consequences. In this paper, we test whether infants experiencing an adverse birth outcome—low birthweight or prematurity, as well as lengthy hospital stays—are more lik...
We sought to characterize the relationship between alcohol consumption and sexual risk-taking in an aging population in rural South Africa. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using baseline data from the Health and Ageing in Africa: a Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community (HAALSI) cohort. We elicited information on sexual risk behavior a...
We estimated the incidence of cognitive impairment and its key sociodemographic, social, and health-related predictors at the first longitudinal follow-up of the population-representative “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa” (HAALSI) cohort of adults aged ≥40 in rural Agincourt, South Africa. Co...
Importance It is uncertain whether depressive symptoms are independently associated with subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
Objective To characterize the association between depressive symptoms and CVD incidence across the spectrum of lower mood.
Design, Setting, and Participants A pooled analysis of individual-participant data fr...
Importance
It is uncertain whether depressive symptoms are independently associated with subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
Objective
To characterize the association between depressive symptoms and CVD incidence across the spectrum of lower mood.
Design, Setting, and Participants
A pooled analysis of individual-participant data fr...
Background
We aimed to determine the incidence of cognitive impairment and its key sociodemographic, social, and health‐related predictors at the first longitudinal follow‐up of the population‐representative “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa” (HAALSI) cohort in South Africa.
Method
Data were...
Objectives
To characterize the extent to which brief cognitive assessments administered in the population-representative US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and its International Partner Studies can be considered to be measuring a single, unidimensional latent cognitive function construct.
Method
Cognitive function assessments were administered i...
Objective:
To test the hypothesis that lifecourse patterns of employment, marriage, and childrearing influence later-life rate of memory decline among women, we examined the relationship of work-family experiences between ages 16 and 50 years and memory decline after age 55 years among U.S. women.
Methods:
Participants were women ages ≥55 years...
Previous clinical studies have reported adverse cognitive outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH), but there are no population-based studies comparing cognitive function between older PLWH and comparators without HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. We analyzed baseline data of 40 + years-old participants in "Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Stu...
Background
: The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale is a widely used measure of depressive symptoms, but its construct validity has not been adequately assessed in sub-Saharan Africa. This study validates the CES-D among an aging Shangaan-speaking and predominantly Black African sample in rural South Africa, with a special em...
Research on early life adversity and later-life cognitive function is conflicting, with little evidence from low-income settings. We investigated associations between adverse childhood experiences and cognitive function in an older population who grew up under racial segregation during South African apartheid. Data were from 1,871 adults aged 40-79...
Background
Several theories seek to explain how social connections and cognitive function are interconnected in older age. These include that social interaction protects against cognitive decline, that cognitive decline leads to shedding of social connections and that cognitive decline leads to increased instrumental support. We investigated how pa...
Objectives: Among older people living with HIV (PLWH) and comparable individuals without HIV, we evaluated whether associations of HIV and antiretroviral therapy (ART) with disability depend on body mass index (BMI). Methods: We analyzed 4552 participants in the “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Afri...
Background: While elevations in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) are both recognized by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as diagnostic of hyperglycemia, previous comparisons of these tests have demonstrated discordant individual classifications and population estimates. This may be due to additional postprandi...
Objectives:
Direction and magnitude of gender differences in late-life cognitive function are inextricably tied to sociocultural context. Our study evaluates education and literacy in rural South Africa as primary drivers of gender inequality in late-life cognitive function.
Method:
Data were collected on 1,938 participants aged 40-79 from Aginc...
Objective: To investigate the relationships between exposure to life-course traumatic events (TEs) and later life mental, physical, and cognitive health outcomes in the older population of a rural South African community. Method: Data were from baseline interviews with 2,473 adults aged ≥40 years in the population-representative Health and Aging in...
Introduction
Although HIV prevalence is exceptionally high in South Africa, HIV testing rates remain below targeted guidelines. Older adults living with HIV are substantially more likely to remain undiagnosed than younger people. Cognitive function and literacy could play key roles in HIV status knowledge due to the decision‐making processes requir...
Objectives
Despite the recent awareness of the environment impact on brain ageing, the influence of the neighbourhood socioeconomic status on cognitive impairment remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of individual and neighbourhood deprivation on cognitive impairment in middle-aged and young-old people.
Design
Cross-sectional study....
Background:
Evidence on cognitive function in older South Africans is limited, with few population-based studies. We aimed to estimate baseline associations between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors in rural South Africa.
Methods:
We use baseline data from "Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH...
Background
In spite of the recent awareness of environmental characteristic’s impact on brain aging, links between contextual socioeconomic status and cognitive performance (CP) remains unclear. The objective was to investigate the influence of individual and contextual deprivation on cognitive performance in order to better characterize vulnerable...
Rapid population aging in high absolute poverty settings, such as much of South Africa, demands new research on the social context factors that affect cognitive aging in these settings. We investigated the relationships between subjective social position within one’s village and cognitive function and impairment, with the rationale that psychosocia...
Background:
To help adapt cardiovascular disease risk prediction approaches to low-income and middle-income countries, WHO has convened an effort to develop, evaluate, and illustrate revised risk models. Here, we report the derivation, validation, and illustration of the revised WHO cardiovascular disease risk prediction charts that have been adap...
Purpose:
This study examines the simultaneous roles of neighborhood, school, and peer group contexts on variation in age of U.S. adolescent sexual initiation (coitarche). All three contexts have been shown to be important determinants of adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes but are typically examined separately, leaving a large gap i...
Depressive and anxiety disorders substantially contribute to the global burden of disease, particularly in poor countries. Higher prevalence rates for both disorders among women indicate sex hormones may be integrated in the pathophysiology of these disorders. The Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services study surveyed a random sample of 4160 households...
Objectives. To determine whether the 2014 Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion affected well-being in the low-income and general adult US populations.
Methods. We obtained data from adults aged 18 to 64 years in the nationally representative Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index from 2010 to 2016 (n = 1 674 953). We used a difference-in-differences a...
We investigated how patterns of social engagement and cognitive health in theHAALSI population-based study of over 5000 individuals aged ≥ 40 years in rural South Africafit with three existing theories of how social engagement and cognitive function areinterconnected in older age. We found that respondents with lower cognitive function hadsmaller,...
An authoritative parenting style is generally associated with healthier body weight in children and adolescents. However, whether the protective effect of an authoritative style on offspring body weight may persist into adulthood has seldom been investigated. In this study we examined the longitudinal association between parenting style and body ma...
We aimed to estimate the relationship between height (a measure of early-life cumulative net nutrition) and later-life cognitive function among older rural South African adults, and whether education modified this relationship. Data were from baseline in-person interviews with 5059 adults ≥ 40 years in the population-based “Health and Aging in Afri...
