Height and risk of adverse health outcomes including physical disability

People usually begin to lose some degree of height around the age of 40 and their rate of decline in height tends to increase with age. Such height shrinkage in later life is usually associated with age-related changes in vertebrae, bones, and joints. In recent years, some evidence has shown that a marked decline in height among older individuals can signal osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and all-cause mortality. This project will use the 10-year longitudinal data of ASPREE and ASPREE-XT study (including 19,114 community-dwelling Americans and Australians predominantly aged 70 years at recruitment) and will examine whether height is associated with (a) other biomarkers including frailty and (b) incident adverse health outcomes. This project will suit a student interested in epidemiology and keen to learn more about biostatistical analysis methods. The results of this project will lead to a publication.