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The data producers have recompiled the ACTIVE data into a new study which is available as of December 2023, ICPSR 38821; data users should plan to use study 38821 instead.

ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly), 1999-2001 [United States] was a multisite randomized controlled trial conducted at six field sites with New England Research Institutes (NERI) as the coordinating center. The field sites included the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged in Boston, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Florida/Wayne State University (Detroit). The primary aim of the trial was to test the effects of three distinct cognitive interventions -- previously found to be successful in improving elders' performance on basic measures of cognition under laboratory or small-scale field conditions -- on measures of cognitively demanding daily activities. Trainings consisted of an initial series of ten group sessions followed by four-session booster trainings at one and three years. The three cognitive interventions focused on memory, executive reasoning, and speed of processing. The design included a no-contact control group. Participants were assessed at baseline, immediately after training, and annually thereafter. A total of 2,832 older adults were enrolled in the trial, and 2,802 were included in the analytical sample. Twenty-six percent of the participants were African American.

This data collection, Aging of Veterans of the Union Army: Surgeons' Certificates, United States, 1862-1940, constitutes a portion of the historical data collected by the project "Early Indicators of Later Work Levels, Disease, and Death." With the goal of constructing datasets suitable for longitudinal analyses of factors affecting the aging process, the project collects military, medical, and socioeconomic data on a sample of white males mustered into the Union Army during the Civil War. The surgeons' certificates contain information from examining physicians to determine eligibility for pension benefits. Also included are questions regarding the age, occupation, residence, and military experience of the veterans. These data can be linked to "Aging of Veterans of the Union Army: Military, Pension, and Medical Records, 1820-1940" (ICPSR 6837) and "Aging of Veterans of the Union Army: United States Federal Census Records, 1850, 1860, 1900, 1910" (ICPSR 6836) using the variable "recidnum."

The Black Rural and Urban Caregivers Mental Health/Functioning data collection includes survey data collected in 2000-2002 from African American females age 65 and older, who provide unpaid care for older African American adults in the St. Louis Metropolitan area and seven rural Missouri counties (Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott, and Stoddard).

Because of inadequate recruitment knowledge about rural African American caregivers and persistent reports of challenges when involving African Americans elders in research, this study focused on the involvement of African American rural elders and recruitment of their female informal caregivers in a study of caregivers' well-being and service use. African Americans comprise the largest group of ethnic and racial minority elders aged 65 and older in the U.S. population thus making up one half of all ethnic and racial minority elders. Numerical changes in population size and increasing longevity of older African Americans direct attention to African American informal female caregivers- persons most likely to assist African American elderly with daily living tasks, personal needs, and long-term care. More disabled and chronically ill African American elders portend continuing need from informal or unpaid caregivers for dependent care.

There are two datasets associated with this study, a public-use (da36349-0001) and restricted-use (da36349-0002) version of the same survey data. Both data files contain 521 cases and 1438 variables. However, the restricted file contains continuous as opposed to categorical values for age variables rounded to the nearest whole number.

The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES, or Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of health and lifecourse experiences of 2,827 Costa Ricans ages 60 and over in 2005, the baseline collection. CRELES-2 refers to the second wave of visits in this longitudinal study, and includes the results from these visits. The first wave of interviews, or baseline, of CRELES is also available at http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR26681. The second wave fieldwork was conducted from October 2006 to July 2008, with 2,364 surviving and contacted participants. The original 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). Vital statistics indicate that Costa Rica has an unusually high life expectancy for a middle-income country, even higher than that of the United States, but CRELES is the first nationally representative survey to investigate adult health levels in Costa Rica. CRELES public use data files contain information 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. Objective health indicators include anthropometrics, observed mobility, and biomarkers from fasting blood samples (such as cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin, and C-reactive protein). Mortality events are tracked and conditions surrounding death are measured in a surviving family interview.

The 1993 Detroit Area Study explored a variety of issues related to health, the effects of aging, living conditions, and participation in civic life in the Michigan tri-county area of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. A battery of questions probed respondents' perceptions of their health and mental state and those of their spouse, their ability to perform certain physical and mental activities, and the effect of their emotional state on their appetite and sleeping patterns. Other explored their feelings about neighborhood safety, means of transportation, relationships, accommodation, the portrayal of older people on television programs, and the treatment of older people by employers. The survey also sought respondents' opinions about government, their personal financial situation and problems, money management, savings and investments, and their life as a whole. Additional items questioned respondents about the frequency of their visits to the doctor, overnight hospitalization, chronic health conditions, smoking and drinking habits, and medical coverage, as well as electoral participation, political party preference, ideological leanings, class self-identification, assistance received from community organizations, family, and friends, personal regrets, and time spent watching television and engaging in pleasurable activities. Other questions gauged respondents' memory, vision, and motor skills. Respondents also provided demographic information on sex, age, marital status, race, ethnicity, religion, and education.

The Hawaii Personality and Health Cohort consists of teacher ratings of their students' personalities. John M. (Jack) Digman orchestrated the collection of the child personality data between 1959 and 1967, during his tenure as a professor at the University of Hawaii. Childhood data was collected on 2418 children in classrooms on the islands of Oahu and Kauai. Six waves of data collection were completed, and eighty-eight teachers provided assessments of their students. Children ranged in age from 5 to 14, and were in grades 1,2,3,5 or 6.

The initial goal of this work was to generate ratings using a broad set of items to allow for research on the structure of personality in childhood. The data collection predated the acceptance of the Big Five model of personality. Items were selected to capture the entire range of observable personality, which at the time was thought to be characterized by 10 or more domains. Subsequent analysis by Dr. Digman, and later by Lewis R. (Lew) Goldberg, demonstrated a consistent five factor structure in the child personality data. In the early days of the emergence of the Big Five model of personality structure, the Hawaii child data provided initial evidence to support the acceptance of Big Five model of personality.

Subsequent follow-up of the sample in adulthood has included multiple questionnaires, and assessments of objective markers of health. These follow-up data allowed for the first ever assessment of the stability in the Big Five over a span of 40 years. At average age 50, participants were recruited for a half day clinic visit. Objective markers of health collected at this time have supported work testing childhood personality as a predictor of physical health, and also research testing lifespan pathways linking childhood personality to physical health in adulthood.

This initial release includes the full childhood cohort data. Also included are a set of Big Five scores that have been used in published research on the Hawaii Personality Cohort, and a number of different sets of personality scales derived from these data. Basic demographic information is also provided. Subsequent data releases will include questionnaire and clinic data collected in adulthood.

For additional information about the correspondence between these datasets, please see the accompanying Excel file, which provides a table of overlapping variables across the datasets. Further information about this crosswalk file can be found in the "Item Overlap" section of the accompanying Study Description document.

Demographic variables included in this study include gender, cultural identity, and year of birth.

The Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) study is a population-based survey that aims to examine and characterize a population of older men and women in rural South Africa with respect to health, physical and cognitive function, aging, and well-being, in harmonization with other Health and Retirement Studies.

The baseline survey was conducted among 5,059 men and women aged 40 years or older, who were sampled from within the existing framework of the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system (AHDSS), in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. Survey data were collected on cognitive and physical functioning, social networks, cardiometabolic disease and risk factors, HIV and HIV risk, and economic well-being. The survey also included anthropometric measures and point-of-care blood tests for hemoglobin, glucose and lipids. Dried bloodspots (DBS) were collected at the survey and later tested for HIV, HIV viral load, glucose and CRP. A sub-sample had more extensive laboratory follow-up testing, which will be available in future data releases. A second wave of the survey was administered in 2018 through 2019, and a third wave of the survey was administered in 2021 through 2022.

Demographic information includes age, sex, income, education, marital status, number of children, and employment.

Harvard dataverse hosts an additional restricted-use dataset which compliments this collection, the HAALSI Baseline HIV Biomarker Data; users interested in obtaining these data must request access based on the terms outlined in the data use agreement.

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a longitudinal panel study that surveys a representative sample of approximately 20,000 people in America, supported by the National Institute on Aging and the Social Security Administration.

The HRS aims to provide multidisciplinary data that researchers can use to address important questions about the challenges and opportunities of aging. The HRS includes the "original" HRS and the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest-Old (AHEAD) study. These studies were merged in 1998 and now represent the United States population over age 50. Two new cohorts were added in 1998: the Children of the Depression (born 1924-1930) and the War Babies (1942-1947). A fourth cohort, the Early Baby Boomers (1948-1953), was added in 2004; a fifth cohort, the Mid Baby Boomers (1954-1959), was added in 2010; and in 2016, the Late Baby Boomers cohort (1960-1965) became the sixth.

Questionnaire topics include physical and cognitive functioning, retirement plans, family structure and transfers, demographic characteristics, housing, employment status, income, disability, health insurance, pension plans, job history, and attitudes, preferences, and expectations for the future. The survey data are linked with administrative records from the Employer Pension Study (1993 and 1999), National Death Index, Social Security Administration earnings and projected benefits data and W-2 self-employment data, and Medicare files.