PHYSICAL RESILIENCE AFTER HEALTH STRESSORS: EMERGING CONCEPT AND A CASE EXAMPLE

Dr. Whitson will elaborate the emerging construct of physical resilience, defined as one’s capacity to resist or recover from functional decline following an acute or chronic health stressor. The talk will present a conceptual framework whereby physical resilience is constrained by physiological reserve at the level of cells, tissues, or organ systems. In this model, resilient outcomes are further influenced by factors such as psychological attributes, environment, and social support. Two methodological approaches to quantifying physical resilience will be presented through an example that uses data from older adults admitted to the hospital for upper respiratory infections. One approach characterizes resilient phenotypes based solely on observed outcomes (e.g., survival, intensity of services required). The second approach utilizes propensity scores to identify individuals whose observed outcomes were significantly better (more resilient) or worse (less resilient) that we would have predicted, based on pre-stressor characteristics.