Productivity loss associated with functional disability in a contemporary small-scale subsistence population
- Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole, France
- Chapman University, United States
- Arizona State University, United States
- University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
Abstract
In comparative cross-species perspective, humans experience unique physical impairments with potentially large consequences. Quantifying the burden of impairment in subsistence populations is critical for understanding selection pressures underlying strategies that minimize risk of production deficits. We examine among forager-horticulturalists whether compromised bone strength (indicated by fracture and lower bone mineral density, BMD) is associated with subsistence task cessation; we estimate the magnitude of productivity losses associated with compromised bone strength. Fracture is associated with cessation of hunting, tree chopping and walking long distances, but not tool manufacture. Age-specific productivity losses from hunting cessation associated with fracture and lower BMD are substantial: ~397 lost kcals/day, with expected future losses of up to 1.9 million kcals (22% of expected production). Productivity loss is thus substantial for high strength and endurance tasks. Determining the extent to which impairment obstructs productivity in contemporary subsistence populations improves our ability to infer past consequences of impairment.
Data availability
Data that support the findings of this study are available on Dryad.
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Productivity loss associated with physical impairment in a contemporary small-scale subsistence populationDryad Digital Repository, doi:10.5061/dryad.h44j0zphj.
Article and author information
Author details
Jonathan Stieglitz
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01AG024119)
- Jonathan Stieglitz
- Benjamin C Trumble
- Hillard Kaplan
- Michael D Gurven
National Science Foundation (1748282)
- Jonathan Stieglitz
Arizona State University
- Benjamin C Trumble
University of California, Santa Barbara
- Michael D Gurven
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-17-EURE-0010)
- Jonathan Stieglitz
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Human subjects: Institutional IRB approval was granted by UNM (HRRC # 07-157) and UCSB (# 3-16-0766), as was informed consent at three levels: (1) Tsimane government that oversees research projects, (2) village leadership, and (3) study participants.
Copyright
© 2020, Stieglitz et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Productivity loss associated with functional disability in a contemporary small-scale subsistence population
eLife 9:e62883.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62883
