Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov-Dec;33(6):832-841.
doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2020.06.200008.

Having a Usual Source of Care Is Associated with Longer Telomere Length in a National Sample of Older Adults

Peter Baltrus  1 , Chaohua Li  1 , Anne H Gaglioti  1
Affiliations

Having a Usual Source of Care Is Associated with Longer Telomere Length in a National Sample of Older Adults

Peter Baltrus et al. J Am Board Fam Med. 2020 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To provide a potential biological, mechanistic link for the well-established association between primary care access and reduced mortality, this study sought to measure the impact of having a usual source of health care on leukocyte telomere length (LTL).

Data sources: Our study population included 3202 participants aged 50 to 84 years from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2001.

Study design: Cross-sectional Study. LTLs between people with and without a usual source of care were compared using unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models. Fully adjusted models accounted for demographic characteristics, health conditions, and health behaviors.

Principal findings: After controlling for individual factors, health conditions, and health behaviors, people who had a usual source of health care had significantly longer LTL (β = 89.8 base pairs, P-value = .005) compared with those without a usual source of care; corresponding to approximately 7 years of life.

Conclusions: Having a usual source of health care is associated with longer LTL among older adults. This study provides a potential biologic link for the noted association between primary care access and reduced mortality that has been observed at the individual and population level.

Keywords: Aging; Cross-Sectional Studies; Healthy Aging; Leukocytes; Linear Models; Nutrition Surveys; Primary Health Care; Telomere.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The difference in telomere length between those with and without a usual source of care (A); and the attenuation in the difference in telomere length in the stepwise models that account for demographics, health conditions, and health behaviors (B). Abbreviation: WBC, white blood cell.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plot of β coefficients and 95% CIs for the relationship between each variable in the fully adjusted model and leukocyte telomere length (base pairs).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mainous AG, Baker R, Love MM, Gray DP, Gill JM. Continuity of care and trust in one’s physician: evidence from primary care in the United States and the United Kingdom. Fam Med 2001;33:22–7. - PubMed
    1. Nguyen GC, LaVeist TA, Harris ML, Datta LW, Bayless TM, Brant SR. Patient trust-in-physician and race are predictors of adherence to medical management in inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammat Bowel Dis 2009;15:1233–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee YY, Lin JL. The effects of trust in physician on self-efficacy, adherence and diabetes outcomes. Soc Sci Med 2009;68:1060–8. - PubMed
    1. Cabana MD, Jee SH. Does continuity of care improve patient outcomes? J Fam Pract 2004;53:974–81. - PubMed
    1. Gray DJ, Sidaway-Lee K, White E, Thorne A, Evans PH. Continuity of care with doctors—A matter of life and death? A systematic review of continuity of care and mortality. BMJ Open 2018;8: e021161. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types