Journal article
Epigenetic clocks and research implications of the lack of data on whom they have been developed: a review of reported and missing sociodemographic characteristics
Environmental epigenetics, v 9(1), pdvad005
2023
PMID: 37564905
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Epigenetic clocks are increasingly being used as a tool to assess the impact of a wide variety of phenotypes and exposures on healthy ageing, with a recent focus on social determinants of health. However, little attention has been paid to the sociodemographic characteristics of participants on whom these clocks have been based. Participant characteristics are important because sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors are known to be associated with both DNA methylation variation and healthy ageing. It is also well known that machine learning algorithms have the potential to exacerbate health inequities through the use of unrepresentative samples – prediction models may underperform in social groups that were poorly represented in the training data used to construct the model. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a review of the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants whose data were used to construct 13 commonly used epigenetic clocks. We found that although some of the epigenetic clocks were created utilizing data provided by individuals from different ages, sexes/genders, and racialized groups, sociodemographic characteristics are generally poorly reported. Reported information is limited by inadequate conceptualization of the social dimensions and exposure implications of gender and racialized inequality, and socioeconomic data are infrequently reported. It is important for future work to ensure clear reporting of tangible data on the sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics of all the participants in the study to ensure that other researchers can make informed judgements about the appropriateness of the model for their study population.
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Details
- Title
- Epigenetic clocks and research implications of the lack of data on whom they have been developed: a review of reported and missing sociodemographic characteristics
- Creators
- Sarah Holmes Watkins (Corresponding Author) - University of BristolChristian Testa - Harvard UniversityJarvis T Chen - Harvard UniversityImmaculata De Vivo - Harvard UniversityAndrew J Simpkin - Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of GalwayKate Tilling - University of BristolAna V Diez Roux - Drexel University, Epidemiology and BiostatisticsGeorge Davey Smith - , Bristol BS8 2BN, , Bristol BS8 2BNPamela D Waterman - Harvard UniversityMatthew Suderman - University of BristolCaroline Relton - University of BristolNancy Krieger - Harvard University
- Publication Details
- Environmental epigenetics, v 9(1), pdvad005
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Grant note
- 5R01MD014304 / ; MC_UU_00011/1 / ;
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001045129000001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85168759390
- Other Identifier
- 991020691148004721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Genetics & Heredity
- Toxicology