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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.

These data are part of NACJD's Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

Financial elder exploitation (FE) is an increasing problem for vulnerable elders exploited by opportunists and for the social service and criminal justice system designed to protect them. This study systematically investigated both objective and subjective measures of social support and isolation, along with common risk factors mentioned in FE theories, including dependency, physical health, depression, cognition, and demographic characteristics. Researchers collected data on individual difference variables with an emphasis on cognitive factors and data on contextual factors using an individually administered survey approach. The framework for this project was derived from known factors for FE, predicted protective factors for FE, and conceptual approaches from the child mistreatment literature on risk and resilience.

The study includes 1 SPSS data file with 216 cases and 297 variables.

In 1994/1995, the MacArthur Midlife Research Network carried out a national survey of over 7,000 Americans aged 25 to 74. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health. A description of the study and findings from it are available at the MIDUS website.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, a longitudinal follow-up of the original MIDUS samples (core sample (N = 3,487), metropolitan over-samples (N = 757), twins (N = 957 pairs), and siblings (N = 950)) was conducted in 2004-2006. Guiding hypotheses, at the most general level, were that behavioral and psychosocial factors are consequential for health (physical and mental). The purpose of the Cognitive Project was to determine how cognition is related to overall mental and physical health. Specific goals were: (1) to characterize the nature and range of midlife cognitive performance, relative to those younger and older, across multiple domains in a nationally representative sample (MIDUS); and (2) to examine the relationship between biopsychosocial factors (e.g., SES, health status, health-promoting behaviors, metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers, depression, personality, control beliefs, stressful life events) and individual differences in cognitive functioning.

The development of a cognitive battery for the second wave of testing of the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study provided an opportunity to examine the cognitive performance of young, middle-aged and older adults from a wide range of education levels in a large-scale, national sample. As part of the Cognitive Project of the MIDUS II the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT) (Lachman & Tun, 2008; Tun & Lachman, 2006) was administered. More information about the BTACT can be found at the Brandeis website. The BTACT represents the first comprehensive cognitive battery, including measures of speed and reaction time, to be administered by telephone to a national sample across the adult years and into later life. With a response rate of over 86 percent for the cognitive testing component of the MIDUS II, a cognitive data set of unprecedented range in terms of age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), education, and geographic diversity was produced.

In 1995-1996, the MacArthur Midlife Research Network carried out a national survey of over 7,000 Americans aged 25 to 74 [ICPSR 2760]. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors in understanding age-related differences in physical and mental health. The study was innovative for its broad scientific scope, its diverse samples (which included siblings of the main sample respondents and a national sample of twin pairs), and its creative use of in-depth assessments in key areas (e.g. daily diary of stressful experiences [ICPSR 3725] and cognitive functioning [ICPSR 3596]) on a subset of participants. A detailed description of the study and findings generated by it are available at: http://www.midus.wisc.edu.

With support from the National Institute on Aging, a follow-up of the original Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) sample was conducted in 2004 (MIDUS 2 [ICPSR 4652]). The daily stress and cognitive functioning projects were repeated and expanded at MIDUS 2; in addition the protocol was expanded to include biomarkers and neuroscience.

In 2013 a third wave (MIDUS 3) of survey data was collected on longitudinal participants. Data collection for this follow-up wave largely repeated baseline assessments (e.g., phone interview and extensive self-administered questionnaire), with additional questions in selected areas such as economic recession experiences. Cognitive functioning data were also collected at the same time, while data collection for the daily diary, biomarker, and neuroscience projects commenced in 2017.

Data in this collection are related to MIDUS 3 [ICPSR 36346]. Data collection for the MIDUS 3 largely repeated baseline assessments (e.g., phone interview and extensive self-administered questionnaire), with additional questions in selected areas (e.g., economic recession experiences, optimism and coping, stressful life events, and caregiving).

In 2013-2014, a second wave of cognitive assessments (Project 3) were carried out on individuals who had recently completed the MIDUS 3 phone survey (Project 1). This assessment, known as the Brief Test of Adult Cognition via Telephone (BTACT), was carried out approximately 9 years after the first wave of cognitive data collection was completed in 2004-2005. MIDUS 3 BTACT data were collected from 2,693 MIDUS 3 participants. Further, a second wave of cognitive assessments were also carried out on respondents to the MIDUS Milwaukee Wave 2 survey that was conducted in 2016-2017. BTACT data were collected from 330 Milwaukee respondents. Finally, BTACT data was collected in 2017 from another 268 respondents (called the Refielding sample) who did not complete this project during the M3 field period. This M3 BTACT dataset contains a total of 3,291 respondents. More details on the fielding of these cases can be found in the MIDUS field reports for the M3 survey [ICPSR 36346] and the Milwaukee 2 survey [ICPSR 37120].

The dataset includes 245 variables and 3,291 cases. Demographic variables in this collection include sex and age.

The MIDUS Refresher Daily Diary Project (aka National Study of Daily Experiences or NSDE) contains data from 782 respondents. The purpose of the Daily Stress Project was to examine how sociodemographic factors, health status, personality characteristics, and genetic endowment modify patterns of change in exposure to day-to-day life stressors as well as physical and emotional reactivity to these stressors.

The primary aims were:

1. To describe how the links between multiple aspects of daily stressors (e.g., frequency, content, severity) and daily physical and emotional well-being change over ten years during adulthood;
2. To examine how sociodemographic factors and personality characteristics influence change in both exposure to as well as changes in physical and emotional reactivity to daily stressors;
3. To investigate how exposure and reactivity to daily stressors correlate with physiological indicators of physical health and predict changes in global health reports; and
4. To explore the relative genetic and environmental influences mediating change in exposure and physical and emotional reactivity to daily stressors throughout adulthood.

The Daily Diary study is comprised of a subsample of the MIDUS (Midlife in the United States) Refresher, a national survey of nearly 3,600 Americans (aged 25 to 75) conducted during 2011-2014. The MIDUS Refresher survey was designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and allow the examination of period effects on health (mental and physical) related to the economic recession by comparing the pre-recession MIDUS 1 sample with the post-recession MIDUS Refresher sample. Guiding hypotheses, at the most general level, were that behavioral and psychosocial factors are consequential for health (physical and mental).

Demographic variables in this collection include sex and age.

The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) began in 2011 and fosters research to guide efforts to reduce disability, maximize health and independent functioning, and enhance quality of life at older ages. NHATS aims to provide the basis for understanding trends in late-life functioning, how these differ for various population subgroups, and the economic and social consequences of aging and disability for individuals, families, and society.

NHATS gathers information on a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older. The sample is refreshed periodically so that researchers may study national-level disability trends as well as individual trajectories. Annual, in-person interviews collect detailed information on the disablement process and its consequences.

The NHATS interview is guided by a conceptual framework that recognizes physical and cognitive capacity is distinct from the environment in which activities take place. Among the specific content areas included are: the physical, social, technological and service environment, physical and cognitive capacity, use of assistive devices and rehabilitation, help received with daily activities (self-care, household, and medical), participation in valued activities, and wellbeing. A last month of life interview focuses on quality of end of life care. Periodically caregivers of NHATS respondents are interviewed in the supplemental National Study of Caregiving (NSOC). Linkages to Medicare records are also available.

Content was developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the fields of demography, geriatric medicine, epidemiology, health services research, economics, and gerontology. NHATS is being led by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in collaboration with the University of Michigan, with data collection by Westat, and support from the National Institute on Aging.

The Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA) projects began in 2002 with the goal of understanding risk and protective factors, including genetics, for cognitive and brain aging starting in midlife. This NIH funded longitudinal study has completed three waves of data collection (2002-2008; 2008-2014, 2015-2020) following the same group of non-patient, community dwelling male veteran twins from when they were average age 56 to average age 68. A fourth wave of data collection began in October 2021. Although the men are American veterans, this is not a VA sample. This is a nation-wide sample with participants flown into sister data collection sites at either University of California San Diego or Boston University.

The VETSA study encompasses multiple linked grants and data collections with two studies funded continuously since 2002--The VETSA Longitudinal Twin Study of Cognition and Aging and The VETSA Longitudinal MRI Twin Study of Aging. Because of the broad interests of the investigators, while study data focus most heavily on in-person cognitive testing, a wide array of psychosocial, demographic, medical history, physical functioning, and personality measures were also collected. While some measures were only collected at baseline, the majority are repeated at every data collection.

At each wave of data collection, participants completed a lengthy psychosocial questionnaire at home then came to the testing site for a full day (~8 hrs) of in-person testing. Participants were housed for either 2 nights if only part of VETSA aging or 3 nights if they qualified for the MRI data collection.

The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a long-term study of a random sample of 10,317 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high schools in 1957. The WLS provides an opportunity to study the life course, intergenerational transfers and relationships, family functioning, physical and mental health and well-being, and morbidity and mortality from late adolescence through 2025. WLS data also cover social background, youthful aspirations, schooling, military service, labor market experiences, family characteristics and events, social participation, psychological characteristics and retirement.

Survey data were collected from the original respondents (the graduates) in 1957, 1964, 1975, 1992, 2004, 2011, 2020 and 2022; from their parents in 1957 and 1964; from a selected sibling in 1977, 1994, 2005, 2011, 2020 and 2022; from the spouse of the original respondent in 2004; and from the spouse of the selected sibling in 2006.

The collection of cognitive function data among graduates and siblings under the ILIAD study (MPIS: Sanjay Asthana, Michal Engelman, and Pamela Herd) began in 2020 to measure risk and resilience of Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) as the cohort reaches their 80s. Data from 2020 and 2022 have been released, and 2025 and 2027 wave releases are forthcoming.

The WLS also has extensive administrative linkages, including with the 1940 and 1950 census, Social Security records, voting participation, and Medicare claims data.