Ishana Kalra
Research Mentor: Seoyoun Kim
Mentor Department: ICPSR, ISR
Author(s): Ishana Kalra, Seoyoun Kim
Session: Session 3 (11:00 AM – 11:50 AM)
Presentation Type: Poster 64
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally, accounting for nearly one in three deaths in the United States. Metabolic syndrome (MetS), defined as the presence of three or more cardiometabolic risk factors, substantially increases cardiovascular risk and is associated with approximately a twofold increase in CVD and a 1.5-fold increase in all-cause mortality. MetS is a condition modified by numerous lifestyle factors, with this realization spurring research surrounding MetS and social determinants of health. Previous studies investigating the association between an individual’s social network and their likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome found social networks could influence chances of acquiring MetS. Moreover, studies have shown volunteering could serve as a cost-effective, novel, and feasible public health method to reduce the prevalence of MetS. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative longitudinal panel of over 20,000 adults aged 51 and older, this study examines whether volunteering is associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. A dataset was constructed using volunteering and MetS variables from the 2012 and 2016 HRS Core datasets, with covariates drawn from the RAND HRS dataset. Analyses include data restructuring, imputation for missing values, balancing weights to account for selection effect, descriptive statistics, and regression analyses investigating the relationship between volunteering and MetS. Based on prior evidence linking volunteering with improved cardiovascular health outcomes, I hypothesize that individuals who engage in volunteering will exhibit a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared to non-volunteers. By examining volunteering as a potential treatment to reduce the risk of MetS, this study seeks to contribute to ongoing research and support volunteering as an accessible and low-cost intervention for improving cardiovascular health.
