The Mayo Clinic Study of Aging was designed to establish a prospective population-based cohort of subjects to study prevalence, incidence and risk factors for MCI and dementia. The study was conducted in Olmsted County, where several factors enhance the feasibility of population-based epidemiologic research. Most residents seek care within the community from essentially 2 providers, the Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center, along with their affiliated hospitals and medical facilities within the county. Both healthcare providers use a unit medical record which includes all outpatient and inpatient information for each patient. The study began October 1, 2004, and recruitment is ongoing to maintain a sample size of about 3,000 active participants. Participants are randomly selected from the Olmsted County population using a sex and age-stratified sampling scheme. Selected participants are invited to participate; exclusion criteria are persons who are in hospice or terminally ill or demented, but recruitment of persons with dementia began in 2015. Nearly 6,000 participants have been recruited to date. At the onset of the study, only 70-89 year olds were eligible. Recruitment of 50-69 year-olds began in 2012, and recruitment of 30-49 year olds began in 2014. Followup is performed every 15 months for 50 yrs and older; every 30 months if younger than 50 years by face-to-face visits in the Center, in-home, or by phone for a minority who decline either of the two but still would like to participate. Medical records are reviewed is used to identify prevalent and incident medical conditions (e.g. vascular diseases such as diabetes, hypertension) and incident dementia cases among persons lost to follow-up.
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The Vitality 90+ Study (in Finnish: Tervaskannot 90+) is a multidisciplinary project focusing on longevity and the oldest-old. The sub-projects address the biological basis of aging, predictors of health, functioning and longevity, old age as an individual experience, and the need for and use of care and services. The research is motivated by the rapid changes in the population structure and by the increase in real longevity.
Data was collected through mailed surveys with whole cohorts of people aged 90+ in Tampere, face-to-face interviews and performance tests and blood samples. The mailed surveys were conducted with all community-dwelling people in 1996 and 1998, and with both community-dwelling and institutionalized people four times since 2001.
Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia in older people. The aim of LewyPro is to examine and characterise symptoms and brain changes during the prodromal period of LBD. Earlier diagnosis is important because it facilitates care planning, leads to earlier treatment of cognitive symptoms and enables earlier identification of other symptoms, including parkinsonism.
Lewy Pro is recruiting a group of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and prodromal symptoms suggestive of Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and following them up annually to assess biomarker changes and clinical course. The initial assessment will include a detailed clinical assessment, a blood sample, a lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid, and a DaTSCAN.
Last Update 21/09/2017
To investigate factors that are relevant to maintain functional competence, to prevent long-term disability and to minimise unnecessary service utilisation among older people. (1) Therefore, periodic assessments are performed covering information on functional status (ROBUST, postROBUST, preFRAIL, FRAIL according tio LUCAS Functional Ability Index; Dapp U et al. BMC Geriatr 2014;14:141.), health behaviour, health care use, the need of long-term care, and survival over a period of more than 10 years. (2) Long-term effects of randomised (RCT) health promotion intervention will be evaluated (Dapp U et al. Draft for Dtsch Arztebl Int 2017; Neumann L et al. J Nutr Health Aging 2017;doi:10.1007/s12603-017-0932-1). There were two approaches (a) small group sessions ﾓActive health promotion in old ageﾔ (Dapp U et al. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2011;66:591-8.), and (b)
home visits (Pr’fener F Z Gerontol Geriatr 2016;49:596-605).
3,326 independently living community-dwelling elderly people (60 years and over) were recruited from 21 general practices in 2000 (baseline). They were followed up over a ten year period until 2010 resulting in multidimensional data sets for every single participant at baseline, 1 year, 7 year and 9 year follow up (Dapp U et al. BMC Geriatr 2012 Jul 9;12:35.).
Last Update 21/09/2017
Current evidence on older adults is derived from population-based cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, which may not include frail individuals. Data are lacking on older outpatients, a potentially diverse population. To bridge the gap between current evidence and clinical practice needs, the Milan Geriatrics 75+ Cohort Study was designed as an observational hospital-based outpatient cohort study. This study included 1861 new consecutive outpatients aged ?75 years who attended a first comprehensive visit at the Geriatric Unit of ‘I.R.C.C.S. Ca’ Granda’ in Milan, Italy, in the period between January 3, 2000 and March 25, 2004. These participants routinely underwent an extensive standardized structured medical examination and comprehensive geriatric assessment with trained physicians. At baseline, data were collected on reason for referral, demographics, physiological anamnesis, past and present medical history and medication use. Moreover, medical examination and anthropometric measurements were performed. Cognitive function was assessed using the 30-item Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Functional status was evaluated using Katz’ Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Lawton’ Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) questionnaires. At 10-year follow-up, all-cause mortality was assessed by collecting data from the Register Office of Milan or other town of residence.
Last Update 21/09/2017
The Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS) is a project aimed at making MRI data sets of the brain freely available to the scientific community.
OASIS: Cross-sectional MRI Data in Young, Middle Aged, Nondemented and Demented Older Adults
This set consists of a cross-sectional collection of 416 subjects aged 18 to 96. For each subject, 3 or 4 individual T1-weighted MRI scans obtained in single scan sessions are included. The subjects are all right-handed and include both men and women. 100 of the included subjects over the age of 60 have been clinically diagnosed with very mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Additionally, a reliability data set is included containing 20 nondemented subjects imaged on a subsequent visit within 90 days of their initial session.
OASIS: Longitudinal MRI Data in Nondemented and Demented Older Adults
This set consists of a longitudinal collection of 150 subjects aged 60 to 96. Each subject was scanned on two or more visits, separated by at least one year for a total of 373 imaging sessions. For each subject, 3 or 4 individual T1-weighted MRI scans obtained in single scan sessions are included. The subjects are all right-handed and include both men and women. 72 of the subjects were characterized as nondemented throughout the study. 64 of the included subjects were characterized as demented at the time of their initial visits and remained so for subsequent scans, including 51 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Another 14 subjects were characterized as nondemented at the time of their initial visit and were subsequently characterized as demented at a later visit.
Last Update 21/09/2017
The CARTaGENE (CaG) study is both a population-based biobank and the largest ongoing prospective health study of men and women in Quebec. CaG targeted the segment of the population that is most at risk of developing chronic disorders, that is 40-69 years of age, from six census metropolitan areas in Quebec. The sampling was stratified by age, sex and postal groups and is proportional to the density of the population in these areas. Over 43,000 participants consented to visiting 1 of 12 assessment sites where detailed health and socio-demographic information, physiological measures and biological samples (blood, serum and urine) were captured. Participants are followed-up based on linkage to governmental health administrative databases and direct reassessment through a web portal.
Last update 21/09/2017
AIBL is a study of over 2,000 people assessed over a long period of time (over 10 years) to determine which biomarkers, cognitive characteristics, and health and lifestyle factors determine subsequent development of symptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
The baseline inception cohort consisted of:
i. 211 individuals with AD as defined by NINCDS-ADRDA (McKhann et al, 1984);
ii. 133 individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)
iii. 768 healthy individuals without cognitive impairment. This group included volunteers with at least one copy of the ApoE ?4 allele, volunteers without a copy of the ApoE ?4 allele and 396 volunteers who expressed subjective concern about their memory function.
The enrichment cohort consists of:
i. 142 individuals with AD
ii. 220 individuals with MCI
iii. 582 individuals with without cognitive impairment.
The data was collected through clinics and questionnaires.
Last Update 21/09/2017
The German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia (AgeCoDe) in primary care patients is an ongoing multicenter prospective study in elderly individuals with a focus on the identification of risk factors and predictors of cognitive decline and dementia.
Between January 1, 2003 and November 30, 2004 a total of 3327 subjects free of dementia at baseline were recruited from general practitioner (GP) registries and assessed with structured clinical interviews and cognitive tests. Since then, participants as well as their proxies were interviewed by trained staff every 1.5 years. In 2016 follow-up 9 was completed.
Main inclusion criteria were ages greater than 75 years, native German language, absence of severe hearing or vision impairments, and residing at home rather than in an institution.
The approval of this study was provided by the local ethics committees of the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg, D’sseldorf, Heidelberg/Mannheim, Leipzig, and Munich. All subjects gave written informed consent before the participation in this study.
Of the 3,327 patients interviewed at baseline, 84.8% (n = 2,820) could be personally interviewed 1.5 years later and 73.9% (n = 2,460) 3 years later. For the vast majority of subjects who could not be personally interviewed, systematic assessments, focusing particularly on dementia, were obtained from GPs, relatives or caregivers.
Last Update 21/09/2017
The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) is the centrepiece research activity of the Flinders Centre for Ageing Studies. The ALSA commenced in 1992 with 2087 participants aged 65 years or more. At Baseline, a comprehensive personal interview and assessment of neuropsychological and physiological functions was undertaken at each person’s home, supplemented by self-completed questionnaires, biochemistry, and additional clinical studies of physical function. The final wave (Wave 13) of data collection was carried out in 2014.
The general purpose of the ALSA study is to gain further understanding of how social, biomedical and environmental factors are associated with age related changes in health and well-being of persons aged 70 years and over. Emphasis is given in the overall study to defining and exploring the concept of healthy, active ageing, particularly in a South Australian context.
Last Update 21/09/2017