Wealth, health and frailty in industrial-era London

DeWitte, Sharon N.; Hughes-Morey, Gail M; Bekvalac, Jelena; Karsten, Jordan

doi:10.3109/03014460.2015.1020873

Cited by 47 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…What is anomalous to this situation, however, is the higher frailty scores in the presumably elite monastically-associated females than the lower status nonmonastic females. Although physiological stress does not always correlate with SES groups [65, 66], this anomaly is explained likely by the few females in this sample (N total = 23), and their unequal age distribution, within and outside the monastic setting. The contribution of age disparities to female frailty underscores this effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Frail or hale: Skeletal frailty indices in Medieval London skeletons

Marklein

Crews

2017

PLoS ONE

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To broaden bioarchaeological applicability of skeletal frailty indices (SFIs) and increase sample size, we propose indices with fewer biomarkers (2–11 non-metric biomarkers) and compare these reduced biomarker SFIs to the original metric/non-metric 13-biomarker SFI. From the 2-11-biomarker SFIs, we choose the index with the fewest biomarkers (6-biomarker SFI), which still maintains the statistical robusticity of a 13-biomarker SFI, and apply this index to the same Medieval monastic and nonmonastic populations, albeit with an increased sample size. For this increased monastic and nonmonastic sample, we also propose and implement a 4-biomarker SFI, comprised of biomarkers from each of four stressor categories, and compare these SFI distributions with those of the non-metric biomarker SFIs. From the Museum of London WORD database, we tabulate multiple SFIs (2- to 13-biomarkers) for Medieval monastic and nonmonastic samples (N = 134). We evaluate associations between these ten non-metric SFIs and the 13-biomarker SFI using Spearman’s correlation coefficients. Subsequently, we test non-metric 6-biomarker and 4-biomarker SFI distributions for associations with cemetery, age, and sex using Analysis of Variance/Covariance (ANOVA/ANCOVA) on larger samples from the monastic and nonmonastic cemeteries (N = 517). For Medieval samples, Spearman’s correlation coefficients show a significant association between the 13-biomarker SFI and all non-metric SFIs. Utilizing a 6-biomarker and parsimonious 4-biomarker SFI, we increase the nonmonastic and monastic samples and demonstrate significant lifestyle and sex differences in frailty that were not observed in the original, smaller sample. Results from the 6-biomarker and parsimonious 4-biomarker SFIs generally indicate similarities in means, explained variation (R2), and associated P-values (ANOVA/ANCOVA) within and between nonmonastic and monastic samples. We show that non-metric reduced biomarker SFIs provide alternative indices for application to other bioarchaeological collections. These findings suggest that a SFI, comprised of six or more non-metric biomarkers available for the specific sample, may have greater applicability than, but comparable statistical characteristics to, the originally proposed 13-biomarker SFI.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Frail or hale: Skeletal frailty indices in Medieval London skeletons

Marklein

Crews

2017

PLoS ONE

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“…Expectation of life at age twenty, however, was in the range of 39–43 years (Hollingsworth, ), regardless of socioeconomic status (Razzell and Spence, ; Razzell and Spence, ). DeWitte et al () found a lack of compelling differences in mortality between high‐and low‐status adults, but elevated mortality and reduced survival among low‐status juveniles in a skeletal sample from industrializing London. This could be because the social gradients in selective mortality noted in modern populations had not yet surfaced, or perhaps surfaced first in juveniles (Razzell and Spence, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This could be because the social gradients in selective mortality noted in modern populations had not yet surfaced, or perhaps surfaced first in juveniles (Razzell and Spence, ). If selection disproportionately targeted low‐socioeconomic children, as suggested by DeWitte et al (), stature in the adult population would be less heterogeneous, as only the hardiest of the low‐status population would survive into adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differences in infant feeding practices may explain some of the socioeconomic differences in subadult mortality (DeWitte et al, ) because breast‐feeding not only confers both nutritional and immunological benefits but limits exposure to food and water borne illnesses. Infants who are breastfed tend to be healthier (Cunningham, ; Oddy, ) and have lower risks of mortality from a number of chronic and infectious diseases later in life (Barker, ; Oddy, ; Schack‐Nielsen and Michaelsen, ; Langley‐Evans, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This would have led to more severe and more frequent illnesses, which in turn would have led to both irreversible stature deficits and greater infant mortality in the low‐status cohorts. This, combined with the pathogenic environments in which the poor tended to live, could have resulted in stark status‐based differences in survival in the juvenile cohorts, and diminished differences in the adult cohorts (DeWitte et al, ). The effects would be amplified in female infants because even if they were breastfed, it was for a shorter duration, meaning even high‐status females would be at a disadvantage relative to high‐status males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interpreting adult stature in industrial London

Hughes-Morey

2015

American J Phys Anthropol

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The results may be explained by differences in subadult mortality, potentially due to variation in infant feeding practices. Low-status infants were more likely to live in pathogenic environments and less likely to be breastfed, leading to both stature and immunological deficits, thus minimizing the association between adult stature and mortality, as the shortest individuals did not survive into adulthood. The ways in which migration and repeated epidemics of plague may have shaped stature variation during industrialization are also discussed, highlighting the importance of context in understanding the association between stature and mortality.

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Health and well‐being, history of

Buzon

2018

The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology

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The history of health and well‐being has been a primary topic of bioarchaeology, the excavation and analysis of human skeletal remains. Paleopathology (the study of diseases in the past) has elucidated our understanding of how humans have adapted to changing circumstances in their physical and sociocultural environments. Transitions in human behavior, such as changes in subsistence, settlement patterns, and contact between groups, have had profound effects on health and well‐being. While shifting conditions do not always result in a decline in health, it is often juvenile individuals and those with fewer socioeconomic resources who are adversely affected. Through the use of a bioarchaeological approach that uses varying types of data to reconstruct the context of past human experiences, in addition to standard data collection and methodological advancements, the variation in susceptibility to disease and adaptability of individuals and groups to transitions provides comprehensive interpretations of past human health.

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Wealth, health and frailty in industrial-era London

Abstract: These results might indicate strong selective mortality operating during childhood or the effects of migration in the industrial-era population of London.

Cited by 47 publications

References 97 publications

Frail or hale: Skeletal frailty indices in Medieval London skeletons

Frail or hale: Skeletal frailty indices in Medieval London skeletons

Interpreting adult stature in industrial London

Health and well‐being, history of

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