CRELES: Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable) Series

The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES, or "Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable") is a set of nationally representative longitudinal surveys of health and lifecourse experiences of older Costa Ricans. CRELES was conducted by the University of Costa Rica's Centro Centroamericano de Población and Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley.

Baseline CRELES household interviews were conducted primarily in 2005, with 2-year follow-up interviews in 2007 and 2009. The sample was drawn from Costa Rican residents in the 2000 population census who were born in 1945 or before, with an over-sample of the oldest-old (ages 95 and over). The main study objective was to determine the length and quality of life, and its contributing factors in the elderly of Costa Rica.

The series includes data on a broad range of topics including self-reported physical health, psychological health, living conditions, health behaviors, health care utilization, social support, and socioeconomic status. The data also include measured (biomarkers) and observed heath indicators as well as mortality information provided by surviving family members.

The sampling weights specific for each wave (variables “ponde_r2” and “ponde_r3”) must be used when computing population estimates for 2007 with wave 2 or 2009 with wave 3 data. In prospective longitudinal analyses, however, is advisable to use the sampling weights provided for the baseline or wave 1 survey. The sampling weights are available in the tracking data file named “TrackCRELES".

Each data set can be linked with the identifier variable CASEID.

ICPSR maintains the CRELES Pre-1945 data, the CRELES 1945-1955 Retirement Cohort (RC) can be accessed by visiting the CRELES project website.