SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN IMMUNOSENESCENCE IN OLDER AGE: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY

Abstract Population patterns of immunosenescence are not well described. We characterized markers of immunosenescence and assessed sociodemographic differences in a population of individuals ages 56 years and older using newly released venous blood data from the nationally representative U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (n=8,400). Median values of the CD8+:CD4+, effector memory (em)RA:naïve CD4+ and emRA:naïve CD8+ T cell ratios were higher among older participants (more aged immune profile) and were lower among those with additional educational attainment (less aged immune profile). Racialized minority populations had immune markers suggestive of a more aged immune profile: Hispanics had a CD8+:CD4+ median value of 0.37 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.39) compared to Whites (0.30, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.31). Blacks had the highest median value of the emRA:naive CD4+ ratio (0.08; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.09) compared to Whites (0.03; 95% CI: 0.028, 0.033). Our regression analyses showed that race/ethnicity and education were associated with large differences in T-cell markers of aging, which were orders of magnitude greater than age. By standardizing regression coefficients to estimate years of immunological aging, we found that each additional level of education was associated with roughly an additional decade of immunological age, and racialized minorities had on average an immunological age two to four decades higher than Whites. As one of the first large-scale population-based investigations of immunosenescence, our study advances understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying age-related disease, with implications for risks such as vulnerability to novel pathogens (e.g., SARS-CoV-2).

men. After excluding twenty-seven participants for confounding medical conditions, we analyzed a final sample of 426 community-dwelling men from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging, who were assessed at average age 68 for plasma levels of CRP and underwent structural and diffusion brain imaging. Linear mixed models adjusting for family relatedness, age, medical morbidity, and BMI examined associations of CRP with whole brain volume, whole gray and white matter volumes, global fractional anisotropy (FA), and global mean diffusivity (MD). Higher CRP was related to lower whole brain volume (β = -.13, p = .006), including lower whole white matter volume (β = -.22, p <.001) but not whole gray matter volume (p = .08). Higher CRP was related to lower global FA (β = -.51, p = .012) but not global MD (p = .203). Regionally, a relationship of higher CRP to lower FA was found in the anterior thalamic radiation (β = -.51, p = .010), which is implicated in a variety of higher order cognitive processes. These results suggest a link between peripheral inflammation and lower white matter integrity in older adult men, the implications of which for cognitive aging and dementia should be further explored.

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN IMMUNOSENESCENCE IN OLDER AGE: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY
Grace Noppert 1 , Rebecca Stebbins 2 , Jennifer Dowd 3 , and Allison Aiello 4 , 1. University of Michigan,Ann Arbor,Michigan,United States,2. King's College London,London,England,United Kingdom,3. Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science,University of Oxford,Oxford,England,United Kingdom,4. Carolina Population Center,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,Chapel Hill,North Carolina,United States Population patterns of immunosenescence are not well described. We characterized markers of immunosenescence and assessed sociodemographic differences in a population of individuals ages 56 years and older using newly released venous blood data from the nationally representative U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (n=8,400). Median values of the CD8+:CD4+, effector memory (em)RA:naïve CD4+ and emRA:naïve CD8+ T cell ratios were higher among older participants (more aged immune profile) and were lower among those with additional educational attainment (less aged immune profile). Racialized minority populations had immune markers suggestive of a more aged immune profile: Hispanics had a CD8+:CD4+ median value of 0.37 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.39) compared to Whites (0.30, 95% CI: 0.29, 0.31). Blacks had the highest median value of the emRA:naive CD4+ ratio (0.08; 95% CI: 0.07, 0.09) compared to Whites (0.03; 95% CI: 0.028, 0.033). Our regression analyses showed that race/ethnicity and education were associated with large differences in T-cell markers of aging, which were orders of magnitude greater than age. By standardizing regression coefficients to estimate years of immunological aging, we found that each additional level of education was associated with roughly an additional decade of immunological age, and racialized minorities had on average an immunological age two to four decades higher than Whites. As one of the first large-scale population-based investigations of immunosenescence, our study advances understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying age-related disease, with Innovation in Aging, 2022, Vol. 00, No. 00 implications for risks such as vulnerability to novel pathogens (e.g., SARS-CoV-2).

INVESTIGATING LINKS BETWEEN CHILDHOOD HEALTH AND FAMILY LIFE AND ACCELERATED BIOLOGICAL AGING Marina Larkina, and Jacqui Smith, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
An epigenetic clock measure, DNA methylation (DNAm) PhenoAge, differentiates individual aging trajectories and has been shown to predict mortality and morbidities. Despite suggestions that early-life experiences may shape epigenetic aging, little is known to date about specific risk and protective factors. We use data from Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to investigate the role of childhood factors, including health and family financial situation, in epigenetic age acceleration. The sample (N = 3952, M age = 64, range 50-100) included participants from the HRS 2016 Venous Blood Study and those, who reported about their childhood health and family. Using logistic regression, we predicted DNAm PhenoAge acceleration, calculated as the residuals resulting from regressing DNAm PhenoAge on chronological age and coded as 0 or 1 (1 = positive values, faster epigenetic aging rate). Participants with more years of education were less likely to have accelerated epigenetic aging (OR: 0.963, 95%CI[0.941-0.985], p < .001). However, self-reported chronic illnesses before age 16 (15 possible conditions), self-rated childhood health, and family financial situation before age 16 were not associated with accelerated aging. In addition, men had higher likelihood of accelerated aging than women (OR: 1.145, 95%CI[1.007-1.301], p < .05). Race/ethnicity and age cohort (e.g., being younger or older age 65) were not significant predictors. Our results highlight that investigation of relation between childhood disadvantages and DNAm PhenoAge acceleration might need to include other indicators (e.g., residential history). Future work is needed also to identify life course moderators of the clock efficacy.

GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF SUBJECTIVE HEALTH: RELATIONSHIP WITH PHYSICAL HEALTH, COGNITION, AND DEPRESSION. Deborah Finkel 1 , and Margaret Gatz 2 , 1. Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, Indiana, United States, 2. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
The fact that self-rated health (SH) predicts mortality and a variety of other health outcomes independent of objective health measures generates questions about mechanisms and etiologies. SH can be considered an indicator of physical health, per se, resulting from active cognitive processing of explicit information about one's own health and intuitive knowledge of symptoms and physical sensations. The extent to which SH taps shared cultural ideas about health should be reflected in estimates of the shared environmental component of variance (C). SH has also been associated with emotional health measures, such as neuroticism and depression. Previous analyses have been limited by sex (only women), sample size, age (range = 63-76), and failure to include cognitive function. The current analysis used data from 8291 adults ranging in age from 22 to 102 from the international Interplay of Genes and Environment Across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) consortium to investigate the genetic architecture of SH. Genetic influences on self-rated health (SRH) were investigated in the context of CIRS (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale), MMSE (Mini-Mental Status Exam), and depression (CES-D or CAMDEX). Independent pathways modeling indicated that all genetic variance for SRH was shared with CIRS, MMSE, and depression. Comparison of groups older and younger than 74 indicated age differences in genetic architecture of SRH. Evidence suggests that the discordance between objective and subjective health increases in late adulthood, possibly as a result of greater emphasis on psychological rather than physical components of subjective health assessments by older adults.

TOWARD A NEUROECOLOGICAL MODEL OF FINANCIAL CAPACITY AMONG OLDER ADULTS
Michael Barnett 1 , Samuel Van Vleet 2 , Kailee Prentice 1 , Annika Wurm 1 , Danica Bass 1 , Yenifer Morales Mejia 1 , Jeanné Dube 1 , and Samuel Van Vleet 2 , 1. The University of Texas at Tyler,Tyler,Texas,United States,2. Miami University,Oxford,Ohio,United States In recent decades, technology has changed how individuals interact with their money and with each other. A combination of financial vulnerability and low technological literacy puts many older adults at risk for identity theft, fraud, and financial exploitation. We reviewed the literature on financial capacity, financial exploitation, and digital literacy. Extant models and measures of financial capacity among older adults emphasize numeracy and basic functional skills, such as writing checks and counting change; these may not reflect the digital nature of contemporary financial activity. We propose the neuroecological model of financial capacity among older adults. This function-led model contends that financial capacity consists of neurocognitive abilities to make sound financial decisions in a complex environment, to use technology to monitor and carry out financial activities, and the ability to protect personal information and guard against fraud. This points to a need for more ecologically valid measures of financial capacity and vulnerability to financial exploitation that addresses the role of technology in everyday financial activities.

PLACE OF DEATH FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA: EVIDENCE FROM THE CDC WONDER MORTALITY DATA Takashi Amano, Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, New Jersey, United States
Previous studies have found that patients with dementia experience poorer end-of-life care compared to patients with cancer. Dying in the preferred place has become a common measure of the quality of end-of-life care, and it has been consistently reported that the majority of people prefer to die at home. Thus, this study examines whether dying from dementia is a significant determinant of the place of death in mortalities among older adults. The Mortality Data on Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) between 2010 and 2019 were utilized. This study examined whether dying from dementia was associated with place of death (hospital, home, hospice facility,