%0 Journal Article
%T Gender-specific aspects of socialisation and risk of cardiovascular disease among community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study using machine learning algorithms and a conventional method.
%A Teshale AB
%A Htun HL
%A Owen AJ
%A Ryan J
%A Baker JR
%A Vered M
%A Reid CM
%A Woods RL
%A Berk M
%A Tonkin A
%A Neumann JT
%A Kilkenny MF
%A Phyo AZZ
%A Nelson MR
%A Stocks N
%A Britt C
%A Freak-Poli R
%J J Epidemiol Community Health
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Jun 5
%M 38839108
%F 6.286
%R 10.1136/jech-2023-221860
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Gender influences cardiovascular disease (CVD) through norms, social relations, roles and behaviours. This study identified gender-specific aspects of socialisation associated with CVD.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A longitudinal study was conducted, involving 9936 (5,231 women and 4705 men) initially healthy, community-dwelling Australians aged 70 years or more from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) study and ASPREE Longitudinal Study of Older Persons, with a median follow-up time of 6.4 years. Variable categorisation, variable selection (using machine learning (ML) models; Elastic Net and extreme gradient boosting) and Cox-regression were employed separately by binary gender to identity socialisation factors (n=25 considered) associated with CVD.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>Different socialisation factors were identified using the ML models. In the Cox model, for both genders, being married/partnered was associated with a reduced risk of CVD (men: HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.96; women: HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.95). For men, having 3-8 relatives they felt close to and could call on for help (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.99; reference <3 relatives), having 3-8 relatives they felt at ease talking with about private matters (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.90; reference <3 relatives) or playing games such as chess or cards (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.00) was associated with reduced risk of CVD. For women, living with others (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.91) or having ≥3 friends they felt at ease talking with about private matters (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.95; reference <3 friends) was associated with a lower risk of CVD.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>This study demonstrates the need to prioritise gender-specific social factors to improve cardiovascular health in older adults.