Socioeconomic inequalities across life and premature mortality from 1971 to 2016: findings from three British birth cohorts born in 1946, 1958 and 1970

INTRODUCTION: Disadvantaged socioeconomic position (SEP) in early and adult life has been repeatedly associated with premature mortality. However, it is unclear whether these inequalities differ across time, nor if they are consistent across different SEP indicators. METHODS: British birth cohorts born in 1946, 1958 and 1970 were used, and multiple SEP indicators in early and adult life were examined. Deaths were identified via national statistics or notifications. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate associations between ridit scored SEP indicators and all-cause mortality risk-from 26 to 43 years (n=40 784), 26 to 58 years (n=35 431) and 26 to 70 years (n=5353). RESULTS: More disadvantaged SEP was associated with higher mortality risk-magnitudes of association were similar across cohort and each SEP indicator. For example, HRs (95% CI) from 26 to 43 years comparing lowest to highest paternal social class were 2.74 (1.02 to 7.32) in 1946c, 1.66 (1.03 to 2.69) in 1958c, and 1.94 (1.20 to 3.15) in 1970c. Paternal social class, adult social class and housing tenure were each independently associated with mortality risk. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic circumstances in early and adult life show persisting associations with premature mortality from 1971 to 2016, reaffirming the need to address socioeconomic factors across life to reduce inequalities in survival to older age

Improving the plausibility of the missing at random assumption in the 1958 British birth cohort: A pragramatic data driven approach

Making the Missing At Random (MAR) assumption more plausible has implications for missing data analysis. We capitalise on the rich data of the National Child Development Study (NCDS - 1958 British birth cohort) and implement a systematic data-driven approach to identify predictors of non-response from the 11 sweeps (birth to age 55) of the NCDS (n = 17,415). We employed parametric regressions and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator for variable selection. Disadvantaged socio-economic background in childhood, worse mental health and lower cognitive ability in early life, and lack of civic and social participation in adulthood were consistently associated with non-response. Using this information, we were able to restore the composition of the NCDS samples at age 50 and age 55 to be representative of the study’s target population, using external benchmarks, and according to a number of characteristics captured within the original birth sample. We have shown that capitalising on the richness of NCDS allowed us to identify predictors of non-response that improve the plausibility of the MAR assumption. These variables can be straightforwardly used in analyses with principled methods to reduce bias due to missing data and have the strong potential to restore sample representativeness

Missing at random assumption made more plausible: evidence from the 1958 British birth cohort

Objective: Non-response is unavoidable in longitudinal surveys. The consequences are lower statistical power and the potential for bias. We implemented a systematic data-driven approach to identify predictors of non-response in the National Child Development Study (NCDS; 1958 British birth cohort). Such variables can help make the missing at random assumption more plausible, which has implications for the handling of missing data. / Study Design and Setting: We identified predictors of non-response using data from the 11 sweeps (birth to age 55) of the NCDS (n = 17,415), employing parametric regressions and the LASSO for variable selection. / Results: Disadvantaged socio-economic background in childhood, worse mental health and lower cognitive ability in early life, and lack of civic and social participation in adulthood were consistently associated with non-response. Using this information, along with other data from NCDS, we were able to replicate the “population distribution” of educational attainment and marital status (derived from external data), and the original distributions of key early life characteristics. / Conclusion: The identified predictors of non-response have the potential to improve the plausibility of the missing at random assumption. They can be straightforwardly used as “auxiliary variables” in analyses with principled methods to reduce bias due to missing data

Body mass index as a predictor of healthy and disease-free life expectancy between ages 50 and 75 : a multicohort study

BACKGROUND: While many studies have shown associations between obesity and increased risk of morbidity and mortality, little comparable information is available on how body mass index (BMI) impacts health expectancy. We examined associations of BMI with healthy and chronic disease-free life expectancy in four European cohort studies. METHODS: Data were drawn from repeated waves of cohort studies in England, Finland, France and Sweden. BMI was categorized into four groups from normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg m(-2)) to obesity class II (>= 35 kg m(-2)). Health expectancy was estimated with two health indicators: sub-optimal self-rated health and having a chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes). Multistate life table models were used to estimate sex-specific healthy life expectancy and chronic disease-free life expectancy from ages 50 to 75 years for each BMI category. RESULTS: The proportion of life spent in good perceived health between ages 50 and 75 progressively decreased with increasing BMI from 81% in normal weight men and women to 53% in men and women with class II obesity which corresponds to an average 7-year difference in absolute terms. The proportion of life between ages 50 and 75 years without chronic diseases decreased from 62 and 65% in normal weight men and women and to 29 and 36% in men and women with class II obesity, respectively. This corresponds to an average 9 more years without chronic diseases in normal weight men and 7 more years in normal weight women between ages 50 and 75 years compared to class II obese men and women. No consistent differences were observed between cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Excess BMI is associated with substantially shorter healthy and chronic disease-free life expectancy, suggesting that tackling obesity would increase years lived in good health in populations.Peer reviewe

Circulating biomarkers for metabolic disorders as a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk: What's new?

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Transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation in native pulmonary outflow tract using the Edwards SAPIEN™ transcatheter heart valve.

Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) is now an accepted alternative option to conventional surgery for patients with dysfunctional conduits between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. PPVI will reduce the total number of repeat operations in such patients. However, surgery remains the primary option in postoperative tetralogy of Fallot patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation who underwent transannular patch reconstruction of their right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). Traditionally, an RVOT patch is considered a relative contraindication to PPVI, however, in selected patients PPVI was successfully performed. We report the case of a 12-year-old patient after neonatal repair of tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia, who developed advanced liver disease and severe pulmonary regurgitation. In this patient, the risk for surgical valve replacement was considered too high and he was treated with percutaneous implantation of the Edwards SAPIEN\u2122 transcatheter heart valve