Table 2. Results of the GEE model on offspring telomere length with time period as a repeated continuous variable, chick as a random factor and sex, year, maternal and paternal telomere length as independent variables in the model.
| Variable | Wald χ2 | P-value |
|---|---|---|
| Telomere length | ||
| Year | 0.050 | 0.823 |
| Sex | 0.318 | 0.573 |
| Time period | 29 317 | 0.001 |
| Paternal telomere length | 0.009 | 0.923 |
| Maternal telomere length | 4838 | 0.028 |
Abbreviation: GEE, generalized estimating equation.
The complete GEE model is presented after removing nonsignificant interactions. Further dropping remaining nonsignificant, single effects from the model did not change the significance of the maternal telomere length (Wald χ2=5.585, P=0.018) nor the time period (Wald χ2=32.723, P<0.001).