Extended Data Fig. 6: Validation using epidemiological metrics and meta-analysis on the cross-sectional subsample and the South African dataset.
From: The exposome of healthy and accelerated aging across 40 countries
(a) Odds ratios and attributable risk for the cross-sectional subsample. Results showed that BBAGs are significantly associated with poorer functional ability and cognition. Analyses reported in this panel included 101,870 individuals for cognition, 99,588 for functional ability, and 101,618 individuals for well-being. (b) Relative risk and Attributable risk for the South African dataset. BBAGs in wave 1 were significantly associated with declines in walking and memory, despite the effects on walking ability showing an uncertain confidence interval. Analyses reported in this panel included 3,868 individuals. (c) Meta-analysis on cross-sectional subsample for cognition, functional ability, and wellbeing using common-effects and random-effects models. Larger BBAGs are linked to poorer outcomes in all domains, with high heterogeneity across countries. All P-values reported in this panel were < 0.01. We used Cochran’s Q test to assess heterogeneity across studies, reporting the associated p-value, degrees of freedom, and I2 statistic. (d) Summary of cross-sectional results, showing the average of common- and random-effects models by income level (low or high) based on gross national income (GNI) and gross domestic product (GDP) classifications. Color bar indicates effect sizes (small: blue and large: red). Accelerated aging is more strongly linked to poorer healthy aging outcomes—cognition, functional ability, and well-being—in low-income countries compared to high-income countries for both classifications (GNI: p = 4.05e-9, r = 0.82 and GDP: p = 8.35e-4, r = 0.47). The maps were created in Python using the Plotly library (https://plotly.com/python/maps/). All other illustrations and icons were designed using GIMP (https://www.gimp.org).
