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The HELIAD is a population-based, multidisciplinary, collaborative study designed to estimate the prevalence and incidence of AD, other dementias, mild cognitive impairment, and other neuropsychiatric conditions of aging in the Greek population and to investigate associations between nutrition and cognitive dysfunction/age-related neuropsychiatric diseases in this Mediterranean population.

The participants in the HELIAD study were selected through random sampling from community-dwelling individuals over the age of 65 years in the cities of Larissa (located in the province of Thessaly in Central Greece and Marousi (located within the Athens Metropolitan area). The targeted sample of enrolled participants comprised approximately 2,500 individuals. No weighting or stratified sampling (according to age, gender, or education) was performed. Follow-ups with face-to-face interviews at ~3 year intervals.

Last update – 01/02/2017

The overall goal was to establish a genetic-epidemiological database to shed light on the aging process among the extremely old, focusing on physical and cognitive functioning. In the first wave 2,262 Danes born in 1905 participated in a home-based 2-hour multidimensional interview, including cognitive and physical performance tests and collection of DNA, carried out by lay interviewers. Population-based registers were used to evaluate representativeness.

The first wave took place in 1998 and participants were followed-up in 2000 and 2003. In 2005 all the surviving birth cohort members were invited to participate irrespective of previous participation:

  • Wave 1: 2262 participants (1653 with biological sample)
  • Wave 2: 1086 participants
  • Wave 3: 437 participants
  • Wave 4: 256 participants

Last update – 30/01/2017

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

The PICNICS study is an observational study tracking the progression of patients with incident Parkinson’s disease over several years to better understand how the disease behaves over time, and establish the pattern of evolution of subtypes of Parkinson’s disease. Understanding differences between subtypes and what drives them will inform development of stratified therapies. The study recruited patients with Parkinson’s disease between 2008 and 2013, and is following them up every 18 months with clinical assessments, cognitive assessments and biological sampling.

Last update – 16/01/2017

The Busselton Healthy Ageing Study aims to enhance understanding of ageing by relating the clustering and interactions of common chronic conditions in adults to function. Phase I (recruitment) is a cross-sectional community-based prospective cohort study involving 5,107 ‘Baby Boomers’ (born from 1946 to 1964) living in the Busselton Shire, Western Australia. The study protocol involves a detailed, self-administered health and risk factor questionnaire and a range of physical assessments including body composition and bone density measurements, cardiovascular profiling (blood pressure, ECG and brachial pulse wave velocity), retinal photography, tonometry, auto-refraction, spirometry and bronchodilator responsiveness, skin allergy prick tests, sleep apnoea screening, tympanometry and audiometry, grip strength, mobility, balance and leg extensor strength. Cognitive function and reserve, semantic memory, and pre-morbid intelligence are assessed. Phase 2 (longitudinal, 6 year follow-up) commenced in 2016.

Last update: 25/01/2017

The OPDC Discovery cohort is a prospective, longitudinal study that has recruited patients with early idiopathic Parkinson Disease, healthy controls and participants at risk of PD. The study also includes participants with REM Sleep Behaviour Disorder. Over 1500 subjects have been recruited to the cohort, including 1087 people with Parkinson’s, 300 healthy controls, 111 First degree PD relatives and 151 PSG-diagnosed REM sleep behaviour disorder, thought to be ‘at-risk’ of developing future Parkinson’s. All patients have a clinical assessment repeated every eighteen months so we can better understand the progression of Parkinson’s over time. Over 500 patients have been seen for a second visit which has allowed us to identify some important differences in the way Parkinson’s progresses in different people.

Last update: 29/12/2016

The ICICLE-PD study aims to accurately characterise two independent cohorts of incident parkinsonism in Newcastle-Gateshead and Cambridgeshire. A key objective is to identify patients who develop Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) and the factors that predict its evolution. From this information, a simplified panel of tests that can be used to predict PDD will be established. ICICLE-PD will therefore provide a platform for studies investigating agents designed to help treat this complication of PD. Participants were recruited between June 2009 and March 2012. Longitudinal follow up is on going with assessments in person at 18-month intervals.

Last update: 16/01/2017

The primary objective of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is to collect longitudinal multidisciplinary data from a representative sample of the English population aged 50 and older. It began in 2002 and recruited over 12,000 people.

The study collects both objective and subjective data relating to health and disability, biological markers of disease, economic circumstance, social participation, networks and well-being. ELSA aims to measure outcomes across a wide range of domains and to provide high-quality multidisciplinary data that can shed light on the causes and consequences of outcomes of interest.

There have been seven sweeps of data collection 2002-03, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-2013, 2014-2015 and an eighth sweep (2016-2017) is currently underway.

The survey data are designed to be used for the investigation of a broad set of topics relevant to understanding the ageing process. These include:

  • health trajectories, disability and healthy life expectancy;
  • the determinants of economic position in older age;
  • the links between economic position, physical health, cognition and mental health;
  • the nature and timing of retirement and post-retirement labour market activity;
  • household and family structure, social networks and social supports;
  • patterns, determinants and consequences of social, civic and cultural participation;
  • predictors of well-being.

ELSA is part of the Dementias Platform UK (DPUK), a multi-million pound public-private partnership to accelerate progress in dementias research.

Last update: 13/01/2017

CFAS II based in England and Wales started in 2008, and builds on the design and infrastructure of original CFAS. It has provided data on generational and geographical differences including people in institutions. It will also provide important base-line information on older people aged 65-84 in 2007-2008 who will reach the age of greatest frailty during the 2020s when the peak in the number of people aged 85 or over is expected and at a time when major therapeutic interventions for dementia could be expected to have an effect. Participants were followed up by interview throughout 2010-2011.

CFAS II is part of the Dementias Platform UK (DPUK), a multi-million pound public-private partnership to accelerate progress in dementias research http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/facilities/dementias-platform-uk/

Last update: 13/01/2017

MRC CFAS study started in the late 1980s with the initial aim of investigating dementia and cognitive decline in a representative sample of more than 18,000 people aged over 65 years. To date there have been in the region of 48,000 interviews with participants in the study. The range of information collected has also allowed the study to investigate depression and physical disability in the older population and also look at healthy active life expectancy. Following baseline interviews, subsets of the cohort have been contacted for 1, 2, 6 and 8 year follow up and the whole sample were contacted for a 10 year follow up. There have also been in excess of 580 donations of participant’s brains after death.

CFAS is part of the Dementias Platform UK (DPUK), a multi-million pound public-private partnership to accelerate progress in dementias research http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/facilities/dementias-platform-uk/

There is a sister study CFAS II which builds on the design and infrastructure of MRC CFAS. It has provided data on generational and geographical differences including people in institutions. CFAS I is the original three sites (Cambridge, Newcastle and Nottingham) from MRC CFAS which are used as a comparitor for CFAS II.

Last update: 13/01/2017