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Korea became an ageing society in 2000, as the proportion of those 65 or older reached 7% of the population. Thereafter, the country is expected to undergo a rapid ageing process. Korea was belated compared to other advanced countries in reaching the ageing society status, but it is expected to become a super-aged society around the same time as others.

Lacking in basic data on ageing, Korea is in need of a structured set of statistical data. – Institutional reform and policy-making in preparation against the aged society require systematic build-up of data that can track individuals’ labor participation, income and asset status, spending patterns, retirement decisions, impact of social welfare, health, and intra-family transfer of income, among others.

The purpose of KLoSA is to create the basic data needed to devise and implement effective social, economic policies to address the trends that emerge in the process of population ageing.

The data will help identify and observe different dimensions of an aged society, build datasets that enable studies in different fields, and generate data comparable with similar panel studies in other countries (eg. U.S., Europe) that can provide the basis for policy-making and academic studies.

The Nurses’ Health Study is a longitudinal population study aimed initially to examine the relation between the use of oral contraceptives, cigarette smoking, and risk of major illnesses in women, mainly cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Since then, the study broadened to include the evaluation of health consequences of many lifestyle practices, including diet, physical activity, and specific forms of hormone therapy.

The participants are registered nurses, aged 30 to 55 years and married at the time of recruitment in 1976, and who lived in the 11 most populous states (California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas).

Convenience sample of centenarians, their siblings, offspring, spouses and a control sample consisting of people born around same time as offspring but who do not have parents surviving beyond average life expectancy for their birth cohort. Age range 40-119 years, with ~2500 centenarians in the sample including 600 semi-supercentenarians (ages 105-109) and 200 supercentenarians (ages 110+ years).

We collect the below listed data at enrolment and then collect vital status, hospitalization, changes in meds and diagnoses, cognitive function (TICS) and physical function (IADS, ADL) over the phone, annually. Local subjects are asked to undergo annual detailed cognitive function testing in person with ultimately, brain donation. Blood sample collected at enrolment for DNA, RNA and plasma for biomarkers and storage.

Study is open to collaborations. Please contact Dr. Perls

The Longitudinal Study of Generations (LSOG), initiated in 1971, began as a survey of intergenerational relations among 300 three-generation California families with grandparents (then in their sixties), middle-aged parents (then in their early forties), and grandchildren (then aged 15 to 26). The study broadened in 1991 and now includes a fourth generation, the great-grandchildren of these same families.

The study objectives were:

To track life-course trajectories of family intergenerational solidarity and conflict over three decades of adulthood, and across successive generations of family members;
To identify how intergenerational solidarity and conflict influence the well-being of family members throughout the adult life-course and across successive generations;
To chart the effects of socio-historical change on families, intergenerational relationships, and individual life-course development during the past three decades;
To examine women’s roles and relationships in multigenerational families over 30 years of rapid change in the social trajectories of women’s lives.

The primary objective of the Jackson Heart Study is to investigate the causes of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in African Americans to learn how to best prevent this group of diseases in the future.

Specific objectives include:
Identification of factors, which influence the development, and worsening of CVD in African Americans, with an emphasis on manifestations related to high blood pressure (such as remodeling of the left ventricle of the heart, coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and disorders affecting the blood vessels of the kidney).
Building research capabilities in minority institutions at the undergraduate and graduate level by developing partnerships between minority and majority institutions and enhancing participation of minority investigators in large-scale epidemiologic studies.
Attracting minority students to and preparing them for careers in health sciences.

The Jackson Heart Study conducted three cohort examinations, an initial clinic examination from 2000 to 2004 (Exam1), followed by a second exam from 2005 to 2008 (Exam 2) and a final exam in 2009 to 2013 (Exam 3). Starting in 2001, participants have been contacted annually, and ascertainment of hospitalizations for cardiovascular events and deaths is ongoing.

A family-based cohort study that is embedded in the Genetic Research in Isolated Populations (GRIP) program in the South West of the Netherlands. The aim of this program was to identify genetic risk factors in the development of complex disorders. For the ERF study, 22 families that had at least five children baptized in the community church between 1850-1900 were identified with the help of genealogical records. All living descendants of these couples and their spouses were invited to take part in the study. Data collection started in June 2002 and was finished in February 2005 (n=2065).

The Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Study (CLHLS) is a large-scale population-based study on health status and quality of life of the elderly in 23 provinces (out of 31 provinces) of China since 1998 with 8 waves so far. The study covers approximately 85% of the total population of China and was conducted to shed light on the determinants of human healthy longevity. The CLHLS tried to interview all consenting centenarians in the sampled counties and cities. For each centenarian interviewee, compatible nearby un-related elderly and younger participants were interviewed, including about one nonagenarian aged 90-99, one octogenarian aged 80-89, 1.5 young-old adult aged 65-79 and 0.7 middle-aged adult aged 40-64. Detailed longitudinal data on physical and mental health, cognitive function, social participation, etc. at old ages were collected from a total of 96,805 face-to-face interviews with 16,557 centenarians, 23,081 nonagenarians, 25,842 octogenarians, 19,650 younger elders aged 65-79, and 11,675 aged 35-64 in the completed 7 waves from 1998 to 2014. For the 26,701 participants who died between these seven waves, data on mortality and quality of life before death (i.e., degree/length of disability and suffering before death) were collected in interviews with a close family member of the deceased. The completed seven waves of CLHLS had collected DNA samples from 24,693 participants, including 4,849 centenarians, 5,190 nonagenarians, 5,274 octogenarians, 4,770 aged 65-79, and 4,609 aged 40-64. The 8th wave of CLHLS is ongoing and expected to be completed by the end of July 2018.

The Prospective Epidemiological Risk Factor (PERF) Study is an ambidirectional population-based study of postmenopausal women set up with the purpose of obtaining a better understanding of the aetiology and pathogenesis of age-related diseases. Participants were recruited from a source population of 8875 women residing in Denmark. The baseline examination (PERF I) comprised 5855 women with mean age of 70.8 years (49.7-88.8) and took place between 1999 and 2001. All subjects have been followed up with registry linkage using population-based national registries. Further, a subcohort was re-invited to attend a follow-up visit between 2013 and 2014 (PERF II). Registry data are available for all baseline participants. From the baseline population, 2103 were enrolled in PERF II.

The Scottish Health Survey (SHeS) provides a detailed picture of the health of the Scottish population in private households and is designed to make a major contribution to the monitoring of health in Scotland.
The series aims to:
estimate the occurrence of particular health conditions
estimate the prevalence of certain risk factors associated with health
look at differences between regions and between subgroups of the population
monitor trends in the population’s health over time
make a major contribution to monitoring progress towards health targets

The Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS) is a large-scale linkage study created using data from administrative and statistical sources. These include: census data from 1991 onwards; vital events data (births, deaths, marriages); NHS Central Register data (gives information on migration into or out of Scotland); and education data (including Schools Census and SQA data).