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The Older Australian Twins Study is a longitudinal, multi-centre study that investigates healthy brain ageing in older twins (65+ years). OATS commenced in New South Wales in January 2007, in Queensland in December 2007, and in Victoria in February 2008. Since the OATS study started we have followed our twin volunteers up every two years to check on their psychological and physical health. Participants undergo rigorous medical and cognitive function tests, with many participants’ also providing bloods samples and having a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of their brain. In 2015 we finished our 4-year follow ups. OATS assessed 623 participants at baseline, 450 at the 2-year follow up, and 389 completed their 4-year follow-up.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Lc65+ project is a longitudinal population-based study focusing on the development of frailty after the age of 65. The main methods in the Lc65+ study are:

ﾕ long term observation of subjects, beginning at 65 to 70 years, an age when frailty is still unusual, in order to study its initiation and development;
ﾕ prospective data collection on a large range of health dimensions, including psycho-social characteristics, in order to investigate the temporal sequence linking frailty, its risk factors, modulators, and outcomes:
ﾕ a population approach considering frailty as a central parameter of health in ageing populations that is useful not only for surveillance, but also for the evaluation of preventive interventions.

Follow-up is based on a yearly questionnaire sent by mail to the participant’s home. In addition, subjects are invited to the study center every three years for an interview and examination similar to those performed at baseline. The follow-up is unlimited in time and is not interrupted in the case of nursing home admission.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The initial aims were to examine the importance of lipids, haemostatic factors, and hormones such as testosterone, cortisol and insulin (Lichtenstein et al 1987) in the development of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Subsequently, other hypotheses were included with a specific interest in platelet function, and psychosocial variables. With the ageing of the cohort, additional outcomes have been included in particular stroke, hearing problems and cognitive function.

The initial design attempted to contact all men aged 45 to 59 years from the town of Caerphilly and adjoining villages. 2512 subjects (response rate 89%) identified from the electoral register and general practice lists were examined between July 1979 until September 1983 (phase I).

Men were initially seen at an evening clinic, where they completed a questionnaire, had anthropometric measures and an ECG taken. They also completed a food frequency questionnaire at home (Fehily et al 1994). They subsequently re-attended an early morning clinic to have fasting blood samples for a wide variety of tests.
Quality control was examined by the use of both “blind” split samples as well as a second repeat measure on a random sub-sample to examine intra-individual variation.

The men have been followed up 5 times; Phase II (July 1984-June 1988), Phase III (Nov 1989-Sep 1993), Phase IV (Oct 1993-Feb 1997) and two further occasions via post. An additional 447 men were included in the survey at Phase II.

Last update – 11/04/2017

The CLSA will collect information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, lifestyle and economic aspects of people’s lives across Canada. These factors will be studied to understand how, individually and in combination, they have an impact in both maintaining health and in the development of disease and disability as people age

A total of 21,241 people from across Canada have agreed to take part in a telephone interview, once every three years.

An additional 30,097 people consented to participate in an in-home interview, and a visit to one of 11 Data Collection Sites across Canada where they take part in a range of physical assessments.

These participants were selected randomly, and were aged 45 to 85 when first contacted. The interviews and visits will take place once every three years over the 20-year course of the study

The study has entered its next phase where each individual recruited between 2010 and 2015 (baseline) will be re-contacted for the first follow-up. This will be conducted between 2015 and 2018. During this phase, the CLSA research team will collect the same type of information that was collected at baseline, along with several new measures that have been introduced.

Last update – 12/05/2017

InveCe.Ab (Invecchiamento Cerebrale ad Abbiategrasso) is a longitudinal, population-based study of disorders of brain ageing involving the assessment and long-term monitoring of the physical conditions and cognitive status. The target population comprises all Abbiategrasso residents born between 1935 and 1939, a reference sample, according to Population Register data, of around 1,700 people.

Those who agreed to participate in the Invece.Ab study were enrolled in a cross-sectional assessment and will be contacted two and four years after the initial data collection to participate in the longitudinal survey. Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments include a medical evaluation, a neuropsychological test battery, several anthropometric measurements, a social and lifestyle interview, blood analyses, and the storage of a blood sample for the evaluation of putative biological markers.

Last update – 02/05/2017

The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (Sydney MAS) began in 2005 to examine the clinical characteristics and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and related syndromes, and to determine the rate of change in cognitive function over time.

Non-demented community-dwelling individuals (N=1037) aged 70-90 were recruited from two areas of Sydney, following a random approach to 8,914 individuals on the electoral roll. They underwent detailed neuropsychiatric and medical assessments and donated a blood sample for clinical chemistry, proteomics and genomics. A knowledgeable informant was also interviewed. Structural MRI scans were performed on 554 individuals, and subgroups participated in studies of falls and balance, metabolic and inflammatory markers, functional MRI and prospective memory. The cohort is to be followed up with brief telephone reviews annually, and detailed assessments biannually.

Last update – 20/07/2017

Disease follow-up for all the cohorts is conducted by active follow-up every 5 years and linkage to national disease and death registries.

The Singapore Health study is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey with the aim to estimate the prevalence of:

Health conditions of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, overweight and obesity, hearing loss and chronic kidney disease, mental wellbeing and to allow comparison of these data with the National Health Survey 2010;
Specific health behaviours; and
Participation in health screening for chronic diseases, cervical cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer

2,352 Singapore citizens and permanent residents of age 18 to 79 years old participated in the survey from August 2012 to March 2013. Overall response rate was 40%. 1956 of the participants also underwent physical examination, additional surveys and provided blood and urine samples for tests and storage.

Last update – 28/06/2017

CFAS Wales aims to interview a representative sample of 3,750 people aged 65 and over in two areas in Wales (Gwynedd and Swansea). Using established and standardised techniques it will collect data that will enable the investigation of cognitive impairment, depression, physical disability and healthy active life expectancy for the whole group and within social groups. It will provide a foundation for other collaborative studies that investigate biomarkers and other early indications of risk of cognitive decline, such as imaging. It will investigate factors that may delay the onset of dementia, specifically focussing on the role of bilingualism and social networks. As the participants reside in a bilingual area this is a key opportunity.

Last update – 13/02/2017

ADNI began in October 2004. The overall goal is to validate biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials. One aim is to find, validate and standardize more sensitive and accurate methods to detect Alzheimer’s disease at earlier stages and mark its progress through biomarkers. The study gathered and analyzed thousands of brain scans, genetic profiles, and biomarkers in blood and cerebrospinal fluid that are used to measure the progress of disease or the effects of treatment. More information on ADNI-info.org. All data is publically available at USC/LONI/ADNI.

The three overarching longitudinal ADNI study goals are:

Validation of biomarkers, especially for amyloid and tau, for use in AD clinical trials.
To detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at the earliest stage possible and identify ways to track the disease through biomarkers.
To support advances in AD intervention, prevention and treatment through the application of new diagnostic methods to apply at the earliest stages technically possible – when intervention may be most effective.
To continually develop ADNI’s now- legendary data access policy and continuously improve and expand the unprecedented data sharing model.

Last update – 07/02/2017

Aims & objective

To find out the known as well as some new factors which increase the risk of occurrence of stroke (half body paralysis, Lakwa) and of memory problem and other brain related problems.
To identify a group of apparently healthy people (50 years and above), carry out their health check up and follow them up over several years to detect any health problems (like heart attack, lakwa, memory problems) with increasing age.
To investigate the prevalence and incidence of and risk factors for stroke and cognitive decline in the elderly.

Updates about the health of the participants will be obtained from telephone follow-ups every six months and physical check-ups every three years. The study is expected to last for at least 10 years.

Last update – 02/02/2017