Board member in the News: Steven Austad questions Study linking Delayed Childbirth with Longevity
On November 17, 2016, HealthDay, discussed research results linking a woman’s age at first childbirth with longevity. AFAR Scientific Director, Dr. Steven Austad, offered expert critique of the study’s methodology.
In a longitudinal study of women averaging 75 years of age at the start of the study, researchers found that women who had their first child at age 25 or older were 21 percent more likely to live to age 90 than those giving birth at earlier ages.
Due to some methodological flaws, Dr. Austad does not find the results of this study surprising. The authors did not control for factors such as the women’s income, marriage status, and educational completion, all of which have been previously linked to both later childbirth and longevity. Dr. Austad also notes that by studying women with an average of 75, nearly one third of their peers has already passed away. He states, "Of the two-thirds left that were studied, more than half lived to 90. If you're not in the longevity business, that sounds like it should be a lot -- but if you live to 75, you have a good chance of living to 90.”
Steven Austad, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and Department Chair at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.
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