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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 Biomarker Project is one of multiple projects that comprise the MIDUS 3 (M3) "Integrative Pathways to Health and Illness" study. For the past two decades, the overarching objective of MIDUS has been to investigate linkages between sociodemographic, psychosocial, behavioral, and neurobiological variables to account for unfolding profiles of morbidity and mortality across the decades of adult life as well as the maintenance of good health and functional capacities. The study has facilitated analyses that pay attention simultaneously to age, gender, race, and socioeconomic variation in how psychosocial and neurobiological variables are linked. In addition, the M3 data permit longitudinal assessment of the impact of ongoing historical events, such as the 2008 economic recession, on the health of diverse-aged adults, which was also included in the MIDUS Refresher 1 (MR1) assessments. M3 included recruitment of additional twins to facilitate genomic analysis.

The M3 Biomarker Project (P4) includes assessment of multiple indicators of physiological regulation/dysregulation and health according to the basic protocol implemented in the MR1 study, which repeated and expanded the M2 biomarker protocol. The M3 protocol included bone density and body composition assessments at all sites and expansion of Actigraphy, Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) and Gait assessments to all three sites. Data were collected during a 24-hour stay at one of three Clinical Research Units (CRU).

The MIDUS Refresher study Survey (2011-2014 ICPSR 36532) recruited a national probability sample of 3,577 adults, aged 25 to 74, designed to replenish the original MIDUS 1 baseline cohort and paralleling the five decadal age groups of the MIDUS 1 baseline survey (ICPSR 2760). The MIDUS Refresher survey employed the same comprehensive assessments as those assembled on the core longitudinal MIDUS sample, but with additional questions about impacts of the economic recession of 2008-09. The MIDUS Refresher Biomarker study (2012-2016) obtained data from 863 respondents (n=746 Main sample, n=117 African Americans from Milwaukee) who completed the MIDUS Refresher Survey.

The purpose of the Refresher Biomarker Project (Project 4) parallels that of the MIDUS 2 Biomarker project (ICPSR 29282), which collected comprehensive biological assessments on a subsample of MIDUS respondents, thus facilitating analyses that integrate behavioral and psychosocial factors with biological regulation/dysregulation, broadly defined. The aim was to use such data to explicate biopsychosocial pathways that contributed to diverse health outcomes. A further theme was to examine period effects on health (mental and physical) related to the economic recession by comparing the pre-recession MIDUS sample with the post-recession MIDUS Refresher sample. A further objective of the MIDUS Refresher sample was to strengthen cross-project analyses by increasing the sample sizes available for testing hypotheses regarding the interplay of key factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, gender, psychosocial factors, biological factors) in mid- and later-life health.

Biomarker data collection was carried out at hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the autonomic nervous system, the immune system, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal system, antioxidants, and three General Clinical Research Centers (at UCLA, University of Wisconsin, and Georgetown University). The biomarkers reflect functioning of the metabolic processes. Our specimens (fasting blood draw, 12-hour urine, saliva) allowed for assessment of multiple indicators within these major systems. The protocol also included assessments by clinicians or trained staff, including vital signs, morphology, functional capacities including 3 dimensional gait analysis, bone densitometry, body composition, ankle brachial index, medication usage, and a physical exam. Project staff obtained indicators of heart-rate variability, beat to beat blood pressure, respiration, and salivary cortisol assessments during an experimental protocol that included both a cognitive and orthostatic challenge. Finally, to augment the self-reported data collected in Survey (Project 1), participants completed a medical history, self-administered questionnaire, and self-reported sleep assessments. For respondents at one site (UW-Madison), objective sleep assessments were also obtained with an Actiwatch(R) activity monitor.

By tapping into the perspectives of older adults and their caregivers, the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) helps inform the public, health care providers, policymakers, and advocates on issues related to health, health care and health policy affecting Americans 50 years of age and older.

The poll is designed as a recurring, nationally representative household survey of U.S. adults, which allows assessment of issues in a timely fashion.

Launched in spring 2017, the NPHA is modeled after the highly successful University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. The NPHA grew out of a strong interest in aging-related issues among many members of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI), which brings together more than 600 faculty who study health, health care and the impacts of health policy. IHPI directs the poll which is sponsored by AARP and Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan academic medical center.

More waves of the NPHA data can be found on the NACDA-OAR site:

• National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], October 2017
• National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], March 2018
• National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], October 2018
• National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), [United States], May 2019

The various waves of NPHA represent separate samples of participants and cannot be joined or merged.

In 2008, with funding from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), baseline survey data were collected from a probability sample of Japanese adults (N=1,027) aged 30 to 79 from the Tokyo metropolitan area, resulting in the Survey of Midlife in Japan (MIDJA) [ICPSR 30822]. In 2009-2010, biomarker data was obtained from a subset (n=382) of these cases (MIDJA Biomarker) [ICPSR 34969].

The survey and biomarker measures obtained, parallel those in a national longitudinal sample of Americans known as Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) [ICPSR 4652: MIDUS 2 and ICPSR 2760: MIDUS 1]. The central objective was to compare the Japanese sample (MIDJA) with the United States sample (MIDUS) to test hypotheses about the role of psychosocial factors in the health (broadly defined) of mid- and later-life adults in Japan and the United States

In 2012, with additional support from NIA, a longitudinal follow-up of the MIDJA sample was conducted resulting in a second wave (N=657) of survey data (MIDJA 2) [ICPSR 36427].

This collection reflects data from 2013-2014, when a second wave of biomarker data was obtained from a sub-sample (n=328) of those who completed the MIDJA 2 survey. Among this group, about 75 percent (n=243) also completed the first wave of biomarker assessments.

Participants traveled to a clinic on the University of Tokyo campus where biomarker data (vital signs, morphometric assessments, blood assays, and medication data) were obtained. Participants also provided daily saliva samples for cortisol assessment and completed a self-administered medical history questionnaire, as well as a time preference questionnaire.

The medical history questionnaire included assessments of conditions and symptoms, major health and life events, nutrition/diet, and additional psychosocial measures (anxiety, depression, relationship quality, control, etc.).

The time preference questionnaire was used to collect respondents' opinions on management of money and assets given hypothetical scenarios.

Demographic variables include age, gender, and marital status.