Lifetime non-relational traumatic experiences and biological ageing
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Background
Exposure to non-relational trauma, such as serious accidents, war or life-threatening illness, is linked to poor mental and physical health. Its relationship with multiple biological ageing domains, however, remains underexplored.
Objective
To examine associations between non-relational trauma and markers of biological ageing, and to assess whether associations vary by trauma burden, trauma type and sex.
Methods
We analysed UK Biobank data from 152,863 participants (mean age = 56.40 years; 56.50% female). Lifetime exposure to six non-relational traumatic experiences was assessed. Biological ageing markers included metabolomic age (MileAge) delta, a metabolomic mortality profile score, frailty index, leukocyte telomere length and grip strength. Regression models, adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic covariates, estimated associations between trauma and biological ageing markers. We also examined dose-response, trauma type-specific and sex-specific associations.
Results
Non-relational trauma was associated with a metabolite-predicted age exceeding chronological age, elevated metabolomic mortality scores and greater frailty. All non-relational trauma types were associated with greater frailty, with a clear dose-response pattern and with the strongest association observed for life-threatening illness. There was no evidence of associations with telomere length, and mixed findings for grip strength. Several associations differed by sex, for example overall trauma burden was more strongly associated with greater frailty in females compared to males.
Conclusions
Lifetime non-relational trauma was associated with older biological ageing profiles, with the strongest associations with frailty. These findings support the notion that non-relational trauma exposure is associated with long-term health status, underscoring the need for mitigating ageing-related health decline in trauma-exposed populations.
