Leukocyte Telomere Length in Postmenopausal Women

To compare leukocyte telomere length (LTL) by race and describe demographic, health, and psychosocial factors associated with LTL in postmenopausal women.

Descriptive study with comparative analyses and correlations.

Data were collected at the University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco Clinical and Translational Science Institute.

Thirty-nine African American and White postmenopausal women between 58 and 65 years of age (mean age = 61.3 ± 1.83 years).

Measures included demographics, blood pressure, anthropometrics, scores on the Perceived Stress Scale and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression, and blood samples for LTL.

African American women (n = 14) had greater PSS-10 and CES-D scores, greater blood pressure, and greater body mass index than White women (n = 25; p < .05), but LTL did not significantly differ between the two groups. Age was inversely related to LTL (r = -.355, p < .05). After age and race were controlled, fewer children (p = .005) and greater perceived stress (p = .036) were related to shorter LTL.

Findings from this small sample support the association between age and LTL. The association between perceived stress, number of children, and shorter LTL in postmenopausal women requires further research and replication of findings in a larger, more diverse sample.