Physiological Health Indicators Research Articles

Highly Conducting and Ultra-Stretchable Wearable Ionic Liquid-Free Transducer for Wireless Monitoring of Physical Motions.

Wearable strain transducers are poised to transform the field of healthcare owing to the promise of personalized devices capable of real-time collection of human physiological health indicators. For instance, monitoring patients' progress following injury and/or surgery during physiotherapy is crucial but rarely performed outside clinics. Herein, multifunctional liquid-free ionic elastomers are designed through the volume effect and the formation of dynamic hydrogen bond networks between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and weak acids (phosphoric acid, phytic acid, formic acid, citric acid). An ultra-stretchable (4600% strain), highly conducting (10 mScm-1), self-repairable (77% of initial strain), and adhesive ionic elastomer is obtained at high loadings of phytic acid (4:1 weight to PVA). Moreover, the elastomer displayed durable performances, with intact mechanical properties after a year of storage. The elastomer is used as a transducer to monitor human motions in a device comprising an ESP32-based development board. The device detected walking and/or running biomechanics and communicated motion-sensing data (i.e., amplitude, frequency) wirelessly. The reported technology can also be applied to other body parts to monitor recovery after injury and/or surgery and inform practitioners of motion biomechanics remotely and in real time to increase convalescence effectiveness, reduce clinic appointments, and prevent injuries.

Is boredom at work bad for your health? Examining the links between job boredom and autonomic nervous system dysfunction.

Job boredom refers to an unpleasant state of passiveness at work that has been found to negatively relate to self-reported health. To date, however, the relation between job boredom and physiological indicators of health has not been examined. The present study investigates whether job boredom relates to dysfunction in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity as indicated by reduced heart rate variability (HRV) during night sleep. The sample of this study consisted of Finnish public sector workers (n=125). Job boredom was assessed with an electronic questionnaire and HRV with an ambulatory monitoring period of two nights of sleep. The results supported the hypothesis by showing a negative relation between job boredom and HRV, after controlling for demographic and lifestyle factors. The findings extend previous knowledge on the detrimental consequences of job boredom by showing that it is related to dysfunction in ANS activity. Consequently, it is important to acknowledge boredom at work as a threat to occupational health and well-being and pay more attention to how it can be prevented at workplaces.

A Biological Approach to Building Resilience and Wellness Capacity Among Police Exposed to Posttraumatic Stress Injuries: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Law enforcement officers are routinely exposed to hazardous, disturbing events that can impose severe stress and long-term psychological trauma. As a result, police and other public safety personnel (PSP) are at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs) and disruptions to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS functioning can be objectively and noninvasively measured by heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Traditional interventions aimed at building resilience among PSP have not adequately addressed the physiological ANS dysregulations that lead to mental and physical health conditions, as well as burnout and fatigue following potential psychological trauma. In this study, we will investigate the efficacy of a web-based Autonomic Modulation Training (AMT) intervention on the following outcomes: (1) reducing self-reported symptoms of PTSI, (2) strengthening ANS physiological resilience and wellness capacity, and (3) exploring how sex and gender are related to baseline differences in psychological and biological PTSI symptoms and response to the AMT intervention. The study is comprised of 2 phases. Phase 1 involves the development of the web-based AMT intervention, which includes 1 session of baseline survey measures, 6 weekly sessions that integrate HRV biofeedback (HRVBF) training with meta-cognitive skill practice, and 1 session of follow-up survey measures. Phase 2 will use a cluster randomized control design to test the effectiveness of AMT on the following prepost outcomes: (1) self-report symptoms of PTSI and other wellness measures; (2) physiological indicators of health and resilience including resting HR, HRV, and RSA; and (3) the influence of sex and gender on other outcomes. Participants will be recruited for an 8-week study across Canada in rolling cohorts. The study received grant funding in March 2020 and ethics approval in February 2021. Due to delays related to COVID-19, phase 1 was completed in December 2022, and phase 2 pilot testing began in February 2023. Cohorts of 10 participants in the experimental (AMT) and control (prepost assessment only) groups will continue until a total of 250 participants are tested. Data collection from all phases is expected to conclude in December 2025 but may be extended until the intended sample size is reached. Quantitative analyses of psychological and physiological data will be conducted in conjunction with expert coinvestigators. There is an urgent need to provide police and PSP with effective training that improves physical and psychological functioning. Given that help-seeking for PTSI is reduced among these occupational groups, AMT is a promising intervention that can be completed in the privacy of one's home. Importantly, AMT is a novel program that uniquely addresses the underlying physiological mechanisms that support resilience and wellness promotion and is tailored to the occupational demands of PSP. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05521360; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05521360. PRR1-10.2196/33492.

Study on the relationship between the age at natural menopause and postmenopausal metabolic syndrome

To explore the relationship between the early or delayed age at natural menopause and metabolic syndrome (MS) in women. A total of 4 734 natural menopausal women who completed the baseline survey from November 2017 to January 2020 in the Guangzhou Middle-aged and Elderly Chronic Disease Prospective Cohort Study were selected in this cross-sectional study. Data on general demographic characteristics, disease history and female physiological health indicators were collected. Logistic regression model and restricted cubic spline curve were used to analyze the relationship between the age at natural menopause and MS. The results showed that the mean age of the subjects was (60±6) years old. The median (Q1,Q3) age at natural menopause was 50 (49, 52) years old, and the prevalence of MS was 14.8%(699/4 734). After adjusting for confounders, the age at natural menopause was closely related to MS in an approximate"U"shape. Compared with the group of normal age at natural menopause, the early age at menopause (OR=1.52, 95%CI: 1.12-2.06) and delayed age at menopause (OR=1.77, 95%CI: 1.36-2.30) had a higher risk of MS. In the group with time since menopause ≤6 years and 7-9 years, the risk of MS in the group with delayed age at menopause was 2.40 times (95%CI: 1.54-3.75) and 2.19 times (95%CI: 1.11-4.31) higher than that in the group with normal menopausal age, respectively. In conclusion, the early and delayed age at natural menopause increased the risk of MS. The increased risk of MS in delayed age at natural menopause mainly occurred within 10 years since menopause.

Heart Rate Estimation from Incomplete Electrocardiography Signals.

As one of the most remarkable indicators of physiological health, heart rate (HR) has become an unfailing investigation for researchers. Unlike many existing methods, this article proposes an approach to implement short-time HR estimation from electrocardiography in time series missing patterns. Benefiting from the rapid development of deep learning, we adopted a bidirectional long short-term memory model (Bi-LSTM) and temporal convolution network (TCN) to recover complete heartbeat signals from those with durations are less than one cardiac cycle, and the estimated HR from recovered segment combining the input and the predicted output. We also compared the performance of Bi-LSTM and TCN in PhysioNet dataset. Validating the method over a resting heart rate range of 60−120 bpm in the database without significant arrhythmias and a corresponding range of 30−150 bpm in the database with arrhythmias, we found that networks provide an estimated approach for incomplete signals in a fixed format. These results are consistent with real heartbeats in the normal heartbeat dataset (γ > 0.7, RMSE < 10) and in the arrhythmia database (γ > 0.6, RMSE < 30), verifying that HR could be estimated by models in advance. We also discussed the short-time limits for the predictive model. It could be used for physiological purposes such as mobile sensing in time-constrained scenarios, and providing useful insights for better time series analyses in missing data patterns.

On-skin ultrathin and stretchable multifunctional sensor for smart healthcare wearables

The flexible and stretchable multifunctional sensors for the precise monitoring of the human physiological health indicators is an emerging requirement of next-generation electronics. However, the integration of multifunctional sensors into a common substrate for simultaneous detection of such signals without interfering with each other is the most challenging work. Here, we propose MXene-Ti3C2Tx and 3, 4-ethylene dioxythiophene (EDOT) deposited on laser-induced graphene (LIG/MXene-Ti3C2Tx@EDOT) composite-based flexible and stretchable multifunctional sensors for strain, temperature, and electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. In-situ electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of MXene-Ti3C2Tx@EDOT composite into LIG outperforms high strain sensitivity of 2,075, temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of 0.86%, and low skin-contact impedance. The sensor platform is integrated into an ultrathin and highly resilient polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS). Finally, we demonstrate on-site detection of human body-induced deformations and physiological health indicators, such as temperature and ECG. The proposed approach paves a promising route to future wearables for smart skin and healthcare applications.

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Elemental Contamination and Health of Mya arenaria Clam in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park

The impacts of pollution and long-term effects of local clam populations are misunderstood in estuaries. The purpose of this study was to follow inorganic contamination in tissues, changes of physiological health indicators, such as condition factor (CF), growth index (GI), resistance in air emersion and dehydration rate, for 5 years in Mya arenaria clams. The sampling scheme comprised one reference site, two sites impacted by human activity (thereafter polluted) and one site recognized as a Saint-Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga whale feeding area without known pollution source (Baie Sainte-Marguerite (BSM)). This study revealed that the elemental contamination profiles in clams were increased but differed between the polluted and BSM compared to the reference site. At polluted sites, clams were contaminated by Ag (2.4-fold of reference site), Mn (2.5-fold) and V (6.3-fold). With respect to BSM, clams were mainly contaminated by Ce (2.5-fold), Co (2-fold), Ga (2-fold), La (2.8-fold), Hg (2.5-fold), Ni (2.2-fold), Sm (2-fold) and V (20-fold). This contamination profile suggests sources of pollution from particulate combustion products of gasoline/diesel, crude oil and urban inputs of pollution. The CF, GI and air survival time were all reduced in clams at the polluted sites, while only the CF and dehydration rates were decreased and increased, respectively, at BSM. Long-term analysis revealed that CF and GI tended to decrease over time with episodes of strong amplitude changes and became more resilient to air survival time. In conclusion, the long-term contamination of clams towards metals and elements could compromise the health status of local clam populations. The increased contamination of clams at BSM could represent a risk to the endangered SLE beluga whale population.

A Survey on the Usage and Evaluation of Exercise mhAPP among Urban Residents and Opinions of Relative Industry Experts over mhAPP Service in China-Residents and Experts in Guangzhou, Foshan and Changchun as Survey Respondents

Exercise mobile health application (mhAPP) is the integration hub of exercise and medical care, and a new health management tool. It can monitor the key physiological health indicators of the human body in exercise/quiet state, provide fitness courses, fitness/diet planning, and latest fitness consultation, etc., and has great potential value for the promotion of "Healthy China". In order to examine the current status of mhAPP services and the possible future application of mhAPP in big health services, this study investigated the acceptance, usage rate, brand selection and quality evaluation of mhAPP among Chinese urban residents, and the views of industry experts (doctors, fitness trainers, insurance managers and mhAPP developers) on the participation of mhAPP in industry services, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for mhAPP-mediated big health services in China.

An Integration Hub of Exercise and Medical Care – Mobile Health Application's Service Construction and Regulations Navigation in "Health China"

Exercise mobile health application (mhAPP) is the integration hub of exercise and medical care, a new health management tool. It can facilitate the monitoring of some physiological health indicators of the human body during exercise/quiet state, collect information on exercise and diet behavior, and even medical history, and quickly generate a "health portrait" of a group or an individual, which is of great significance for China's big health services. Based on China's market service demand, data exchange theory, Internet information security law, APP industry decree and regulation, and borrowing from the U.S. APP information management system, this study constructs a theoretical model of China's big health service system with mhAPP as data source, government-regulated cloud platform as data manager, and hospitals, CDCs, shopping malls, restaurants and other organizations as third-party data users, and designed ordinances and regulations to support its operation.

The Roles of General and Domain-Specific Perceived Stress in Healthy Aging

Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests the existence of a general perceived stress factor overarching different life domains. The present study investigated the general perceived stress relative to domain-specific perceived stress as predictors of 26 diverse health outcomes, including mental and physical health, health behaviors, cognitive functioning, and physiological health indicators. A bifactor exploratory structural equational modelling approach was conducted in two samples from the Health and Retirement Study. Across the two samples, perceived stress was well-represented by a bifactor structure where there was a robust general perceived stress factor representing a general propensity towards stress perception. Meanwhile, after controlling for the general factor, specific factors representing perceived stress in different life domains were still clearly present. The general perceived stress factor was the most robust predictor of the majority of health outcomes. Age, sex, personality traits, and stressor exposure were found as possible diathesis underlying the general perceived stress factor.

Estimating the health impact of individual's dietary change across multiple physiological outcomes: a conceptual and simulation model

BackgroundInterventions to improve the food environment are often implemented at the population level. The health effects of these interventions can be difficult to observe but can be predicted by models. Prediction models require evidence from multiple sources if changes to diet affect sodium, fat, and carbohydrate consumption. We aimed to develop a model to estimate how multidimensional changes in individuals' diets affect metabolic risk factors. MethodsWe developed an evidence review to identify mathematical models describing relationships between calories and weight in adults, and systematic reviews estimating relationships between fats, carbohydrates, and sodium on systolic blood pressure (SBP), cholesterol, and HbA1c from randomised controlled trials. We searched the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Science Citation Index databases for peer-reviewed systematic reviews published in English between 1946 and May 26, 2020 using keywords for metabolic risks and nutrients . A systems map combining the School for Public Health Research (SPHR) Diabetes Prevention model, background literature, and dietary public health policies was used to develop the review protocol. Data extracted from the review were used to develop a conceptual map to illustrate the causal relationships between dietary measures and metabolic risk factors, including the effects of food substitutions (carbohydrates vs fats). The map was discussed with two senior lecturers in nutrition to identify evidence gaps and additional evidence. The map was programmed into a deterministic simulation in R to estimate how changes in diet affect metabolic risk factors. FindingsWe estimated that reducing calorie intake by 50 kcal per day would reduce population mean weight by 1·3 kg over 12 months. Reducing sodium intake by 1 g per day would decrease population mean SBP by 0·212 mm Hg. Increasing fibre intake by 1 g per day would decrease SBP by 0·200 mm Hg over 12 months, with marginal decreases in weight, HbA1c, and LDL cholesterol. Substituting carbohydrates for polyunsaturated fat (2·5% of energy) would decrease population mean total cholesterol by 0·12 mmol/L over 12 months, with marginal reductions in SBP and weight. InterpretationThis study provides a tool to estimate effects of dietary changes on individual physiological indicators of health. The research will be most beneficial to extrapolate health effects of population-level food interventions, including those leading to multiple, and possibly, competing nutritional effects. FundingNational Institute for Health Research School for Public Health Research (grant reference number PD-SPH-2015).

A Pilot Study of the Effect of Lactobacillus casei Obtained from Long-Lived Elderly on Blood Biochemical, Oxidative, and Inflammatory Markers, and on Gut Microbiota in Young Volunteers.

Probiotic intake has been shown to improve certain physiological health indicators. We aimed to examine effects of Lactobacillus casei LTL1879, obtained from long-lived elderly volunteers, on blood biochemical, oxidative, and inflammatory markers and gut microbiota in twenty healthy, young volunteers. Volunteers were randomly divided into equal probiotic and placebo groups and changes in blood biochemical indicators, oxidative and inflammatory markers, and gut microbiota were examined after three weeks of probiotic intervention. The probiotic group’s antioxidant levels were significantly enhanced post-intervention. Total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels were significantly increased (p < 0.0001), while malondialdehyde (MDA) levels decreased (p < 0.05), and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) levels increased, but with no significant difference. In addition, Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were significantly up-regulated and down-regulated (p < 0.05, respectively). Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, and Bacteroides expression was significantly reduced (p < 0.05), while Clostridium leptum, Bifidobacterium, and Lactobacillus expression increased (p < 0.05). Volunteer health status was quantified using principal components and cluster analysis, indicating that the probiotic group’s overall score was higher than that of the placebo group. The results of this pilot study suggest L. casei LTL 1879 can significantly improve specific immune, oxidative, and gut microbiota characteristics related to health factors.

The Roles of General and Domain-Specific Perceived Stress in Healthy Aging

Abstract Objectives Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests the existence of a general perceived stress factor overarching different life domains. The present study investigated the general perceived stress relative to domain-specific perceived stress as predictors of 26 diverse health outcomes, including mental and physical health, health behaviors, cognitive functioning, and physiological indicators of health. Method A bifactor exploratory structural equational modeling approach was adopted in 2 aging samples from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 8,325 in Sample 1 and N = 7,408 in Sample 2). Results Across the 2 samples, perceived stress was well represented by a bifactor structure where there was a robust general perceived stress factor representing a general propensity towards stress perception. Meanwhile, after controlling for the general perceived stress factor, specific factors that represent perceived stress in different life domains were still clearly present. Results also suggested age, sex, race, education, personality traits, and past and recent stressor exposure as possible factors underlying individual differences in the general perceived stress factor. The general perceived stress factor was the most robust predictor of the majority of health outcomes, as well as changes in mental health outcomes. The specific factor of perceived neighborhood stress demonstrated incremental predictive effects across different types of health outcomes. Discussion The current study provides strong evidence for the existence of a general perceived stress factor that captures variance shared among stress across life domains, and the general perceived stress factor demonstrated substantial prospective predictive effects on diverse health outcomes in older adulthood.

Changes of water, sediment, and intestinal bacterial communities in Penaeus japonicus cultivation and their impacts on shrimp physiological health

More and more studies have revealed a close relationship between gut microbial community and human health. However, the mechanism why changes in gut microflora structures affect shrimp health status remains unclear. In this study, we compared the differences of bacterial communities among intestine, water, and sediment collected from mariculture ponds of Penaeus japonicus in the early (30 days) and late (90 days) stage. Simultaneously, the relationship between bacterial communities and water quality indexes as well as shrimp physiological indexes was analyzed, respectively. The results showed that relative abundances of intestinal dominant phyla changed along with rearing times. And according to non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), bacterial communities of shrimp gut had a closer relationship with the water library. By analyzing the relationship between water quality indexes and shrimp pond flora, it was shown that total nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen contents probably had the biggest impacts on bacterial communities of water, so did temperature and chemical oxygen demand on microbial communities of sediments and shrimp intestines. By analyzing the relationship between the dominant genus and physiological health indicators of shrimp, it was found that unidentified_Mitochondria, Photobacterium, and Acinetobacter were more closely associated with shrimp physiological health indicators such as total antioxidant capacity, superoxide dismutase activity, antibacterial activity, lysozyme activity, and agglutinating activity. Overall, these results suggested that intestinal microbiota of Penaeus japonicus has certain connections to ambient microflorae, environmental factors, and shrimp health status. These findings may be conducive to disease prevention and control by regulating gut and ambient microflorae in shrimp farming.

Multifunctional Wearable System that Integrates Sweat‐Based Sensing and Vital‐Sign Monitoring to Estimate Pre‐/Post‐Exercise Glucose Levels

AbstractWearable bioelectronic technologies have made significant progresses in personalized health management through non‐invasive monitoring of health indicators. However, current wearable systems cannot measure biochemical information and physiological signals simultaneously, which limits integrated data analysis and their widespread clinical applications. Here, an integrated multifunctional wearable health management system composed of a disposable sweat‐based glucose sensing strip and a wearable smart band is reported. The integrated system with control software electrochemically analyzes sweat glucose levels and continuously monitors vital signs (i.e., heart rate, blood oxygen saturation level, and physical activity). Different sweat collecting sites and sweat generation methods are tested in short‐ and long‐term studies with multiple human subjects by using the developed wearable system, leading to optimized protocols for health monitoring. By combining sweat glucose data and physiological monitoring data, pre‐ and post‐exercise blood glucose levels and blood glucose changes resulting from physical activities are reliably estimated, providing key information for preventing hypoglycemic shock during intense exercise. The integrated wearable system offers a novel comprehensive personalized health management strategy through combined analysis of key metabolic and physiological health indicators.

A macrophysiology approach to watershed science and management

Freshwaters are among the most imperiled ecosystems on the planet such that much effort is expended on environmental monitoring to support the management of these systems. Many traditional monitoring efforts focus on abiotic characterization of water quantity or quality and/or indices of biotic integrity that focus on higher scale population or community level metrics such as abundance or diversity. However, these indicators may take time to manifest in degraded systems and delay the identification and restoration of these systems. Physiological indicators manifest rapidly and portend oncoming changes in populations that can hasten restoration and facilitate preventative medicine for degraded habitats. Therefore, assessing freshwater ecosystem integrity using physiological indicators of health is a promising tool to improve freshwater monitoring and restoration. Here, we discuss the value of using comparative, longitudinal physiological data collected at a broad spatial (i.e. watershed) scale (i.e. macrophysiology) as a tool for monitoring aquatic ecosystem health within and among local watersheds to develop timely and effective management plans. There are emerging tools and techniques available for rapid, cost-effective, and non-lethal physiological sampling and we discuss how these can be integrated into management using fish as sentinel indicators in freshwater. Although many examples of this approach are relatively recent, we foresee increasing use of macrophysiology in monitoring, and advocate for the development of more standard tools for consistent and reliable assessment.

Physiological Correlates of Multiple Parasitic Infections in Side-Blotched Lizards

We investigated the presence of ectoparasites and hemoparasites in side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) across a large part of their range and measured how parasitic infection related to several key physiological indicators of health. Blood samples were collected from 132 lizards from central Arizona, southern Utah, and eastern Oregon. Hemoparasites were found in 22 individuals (3.2% prevalence in Arizona, 19.1% in Utah, and 6.3% in Oregon), and ectoparasites were found on 51 individuals (56.3% prevalence in Arizona, 56.1% in Utah, and 6.7% in Oregon), with 11 individuals infected with both. Hemoparasites and ectoparasites were found in all three states. Immunocompetence was higher in individuals infected with both hemoparasites and ectoparasites. Body condition, glucocorticoid levels, and reproductive investment were not related to infection status. Our study provides evidence that parasitic infection is associated with an active immune system in wild reptiles but may not impose other costs usually associated with parasites.

The relationship between health and mating success in humans.

Health has been claimed to play an important role in human sexual selection, especially in terms of mate choice. Our preferences for attractive individuals are said to represent evolved adaptations for finding high-quality, healthy mates. If this is true, then we expect health to predict mating success in humans. We tested this hypothesis using several important physiological indicators of health, including immune function, oxidative stress and semen quality, and self-reported measures of sexual behaviour that contribute to mating success. In contrast to our hypothesis, we did not find a relationship between the physiological measures of health and sexual behaviour. Our results provide little support for claims that health, at least the health measures we used, increases mating success in relatively healthy humans.

The MATCH cohort study in the Netherlands: rationale, objectives, methods and baseline characteristics of patients with (long-term) common mental disorders.

Research in the last decades shows that common mental disorders may be long-term and severely disabling, resulting in severe mental illness (SMI). The percentage of Dutch SMI-patients with common mental disorders receiving mental health services is estimated at 65-70%. However, it is unclear which patients in fact become SMI-patients. We need to know more about the possible course of common mental disorders, understand the origins of chronicity in more detail, and have more insight in related care processes and care use of patients with common mental disorders. The MATCH cohort study is a four-year multicentre naturalistic cohort study, with yearly assessments in primary, secondary, and tertiary services in three large Dutch mental health services. Socio-demographics, mental disorders, course and severity of psychopathology, physiological health indicators, neurocognitive functioning, past and present life events, health care use and contact with mental health services, social functioning and quality of life, and recovery and well-being are assessed. Baseline findings of 283 participating individuals and their key clinicians are described. The sample appears to appropriately represent the distribution of individuals across diagnostic categories in services, and level of care (outpatient, day treatment, inpatient) in the Netherlands and other developed nations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Population Distributions of Thymic Function in Adults: Variation by Sociodemographic Characteristics and Health Status

ABSTRACTThe thymus is critical for mounting an effective immune response and maintaining health. However, epidemiologic studies characterizing thymic function in the population setting are lacking. Using data from 263 adults in the Detroit Neighborhood Health Study, we examined thymic function as measured by the number of signal joint T-cell receptor excision circles (sjTREC) and assessed associations with established indicators of physiological health. Overall, increasing age and male gender were significantly associated with reduced thymic function. Adjusting for covariates, individuals with elevated levels of the pro-inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (β: −0.50 [95% CI: −0.82, −0.18] for moderate elevation, β: −0.29 [95% CI: −0.59, 0.00] for high elevation) and interleukin-6 (β: −0.60 [95% CI: −0.92, −0.28] for moderate elevation, β: −0.43 [95% CI: −0.77, −0.08] for severe elevation) also had lower thymic function. Compared to individuals with a BMI < 25, individuals who were overweight (β: 0.36 [95% CI: 0.07, 0.64]) or obese (β: 0.27 [95% CI: −0.03, 0.56]) had higher thymic function. Differences by self-rated health were not statistically significant. Our findings underscore demographic- and health-related gradients in thymic function among adult residents of Detroit, suggesting thymic function may be an important biomarker of health status in adults at the population level.