Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Frailty Assessment in an Aging Mouse Model
Published on: September 23, 2025
Longevity and correlated frailty in multigenerational families
Gilda Garibotti1, Ken R Smith, Richard A Kerber
1Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
Abstract:
Multigenerational pedigrees provide an opportunity for assessing the effects of unobserved environmental and genetic effects on longevity (i.e., frailty). This article applies Cox proportional hazards models to data from three-generation pedigrees in the Utah Population Database using two different frailty specification schemes that account for common environments (shared frailty) and genetic effects (correlated frailty). In a model that includes measures of familial history of longevity and both frailty effects, we find that the variance component due to genetic factors is comparable to the one attributable to shared environments: Standard deviations of the correlated and the shared frailty distributions are 0.143 and 0.186, respectively. Through simulations, we also show a greater reduction in the bias of parameter estimates for fixed covariates through the use of the correlated frailty model.
More Related Videos
05:53Measuring Frailty in HIV-infected Individuals. Identification of Frail Patients is the First Step to Amelioration and Reversal of Frailty
Published on: July 24, 2013
08:46Studying Age-dependent Genomic Instability using the S. cerevisiae Chronological Lifespan Model
Published on: September 29, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Longitudinal Research
Development of Human Microbiota
The Effect of Aging on Tissues
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Longitudinal Studies
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings