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Intrapair Comparison of Life-Course Appetite and Physical Activity in Elderly Danish Twins: Reliability and Association With Subsequent Survival.
- Source :
-
Twin Research & Human Genetics . Oct2016, Vol. 19 Issue 5, p447-455. 9p. 1 Diagram, 8 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Avoiding overeating and being physically active is associated with healthy aging, but methodological issues challenge the quantification of the association. Intrapair comparison of twins is a study design that attempts to minimize social norm-driven biased self-reporting of lifestyle factors. We aimed to investigate the association between self-reported lifestyle factors and subsequent survival in 347 Danish twin pairs aged 70 years and older and, additionally, to investigate the reliability of these self-reports. The twins were interviewed in 2003 and followed for mortality until 2015. They were asked to compare their appetite and physical activity to that of their co-twins in different stages of life. On an individual level, we found a positive association between current self-reported physical activity and late-life survival for elderly twins. This was supported by the intrapair analyses, which revealed a positive association between midlife and current physical activity and late-life survival. A positive association between lower appetite and late-life survival was found generally over the life course in the individual level analyses but not in the intrapair analyses. Kappa values for the inter-twin agreement on who ate the most were 0.16 to 0.34 in different life stages, and for physical activity 0.19 to 0.26, corresponding to a slight-to-fair agreement. Approximately, 50% of the twin pairs were not in agreement regarding physical activity, and of these twins 75% (95% CI: 67–82%) considered themselves the most active twin. These findings indicate a still-existing tendency of answering according to social norms, even in a twin study designed to minimize this. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 18324274
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Twin Research & Human Genetics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 118150995
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2016.56