RAND Survey Meta Data Repository
HRS-harmonized
studies
Search Studies Collecting Biomarkers
Information Resources
Studies Collecting Biomarkers in Population Settings
Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and HRS-harmonized studies
National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP)
National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) is an
in-home
survey of 3,005 persons aged 57 to 84 that collected biomarkers of
health and physiological functioning to better characterize the health
of survey participants. Timing
of
biomarker data collection. NSHAP page at Biomarker Network
website. ICPSR documentation.
The
National
Longitudinal
Study
of
Adolescent
Health (Add Health)
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) is a
nationally representative study that explores the
causes of health-related behaviors of adolescents in grades 7 through
12 and their outcomes in young adulthood. Add Health seeks to examine
how social contexts (families, friends, peers, schools, neighborhoods,
and communities) influence adolescents' health and risk behaviors.
National
Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
NHANES III 1988-94 and NHANES 1999-2000 are nationally representative
cross-sectional surveys of the civilian noninstitutionalized population
in the United States. The design for each of these studies included a
stratified multistage probability sample based on selection of
counties, blocks, households, and persons within households. NHANES III
and NHANES 1999-2000 were designed to oversample Mexican Americans,
non-Hispanic blacks, and children and adolescents to improve estimates
for these groups. Each NHANES consisted of an in-home interview
followed by an examination at a mobile examination center.
The
NHANES study consisted of survey, clinical examination, and laboratory
components as well as a survey instrument.
Midlife
in the
United
States (MIDUS)
The purpose of this project is to carry forward MIDUS, a national
survey (N= 7,189), conducted in 1994/95 by the MacArthur Midlife
Research Network. The sample included adults aged 25 to 74, as well as
twins and siblings. Conceived by a multidisciplinary team, the study
investigated the role of behavioral, psychological, and social factors
in accounting for age-related variations in health and illness. MIDUS
II will add a second wave to the study, approximately 9-10 years later.
In addition, it will include a sample of African Americans in
Milwaukee, WI (N= 400). The biological data collection will include
laboratory challenge studies (both cognitive and orthostatic), with
accompanying assessments of salivary cortisol, blood pressure and
heart-rate variability. The project also studies the central circuitry
of emotion (affective neuroscience) and includes EEG measures
of
cerebral activation asymmetry and emotion-modulated startle. These
measures have been previously linked to dispositional affect,
depression, recovery from stressful events, and selected biomarkers.
The
Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS)
The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) is a long-term study based on a
random sample of 10,317 men and women who graduated from Wisconsin high
schools in 1957. A companion sample contains comparable data for a
randomly selected sibling of most respondents. WLS data cover social
background, youthful aspirations, schooling, military service, labor
market experiences, family characteristics and events, social
participation, psychological characteristics, health and well-being,
and retirement. Data on heaight, weight and body mass index
are
also available.
Social
Environment
and
Biomarkers
of
Aging
Study
(SEBAS) in Taiwan
The Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS) provides
information regarding the health and well-being of older persons in
Taiwan. Taiwan has undergone rapid demographic, social, and economic
changes, becoming a highly urbanized and industrial society with a
growing population of persons age 65 or older. SEBAS explores the
relationship between life challenges and mental and physical health,
the impact of social environment on the health and well-being of the
elderly, and biological markers of health and stress. The study
collected self-reports of physical, psychological, and social
well-being, plus extensive clinical data based on medical examinations
and laboratory analyses. Examination of health outcomes included
chronic illnesses, functional status, psychological well-being, and
cognitive function. Questions regarding life challenges focused on
perceived stress, economic difficulties, security and safety, and the
consequences of a major earthquake. Biological markers were used to
identify cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic process measures,
immune-system activity, the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis, and
sympathetic nervous system activity.
The Los
Angeles
Family and
Neighborhood Survey (LA FANS)
The Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS) is a
longitudinal survey of children and adults in 65 neighborhoods in Los
Angeles County. Wave 2 of L.A.FANS, planned for 2006-2007,
collects, documents, and places in the public domain new data for
investigating the social and economic determinants of health status and
health disparities. L.A.FANS-2 re-interviews adults
and
children from Wave 1 of L.A.FANS and collects extensive social,
economic, and health data, as well as information on the physical and
social environments in which they live and work. These data
will
allow researchers to examine a wide range of hypotheses about
contextual effects on health and health-related behaviors using
multilevel statistical models. L.A.FANS-2 also collects
self-reports on health status as well as biomarkers of stress, disease,
and health, including obesity, cortisol (a stress hormone), blood
pressure, C-reactive protein (a marker of acute inflammation),
Epstein-Barr virus antibodies (a marker of immune function), total and
HDL cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c to assess diabetes and glucose
intolerance, and spirometry to assess pulmonary function. For
more details about L.A.FANS and information about obtaining the data,
visit the project web site at www.lasurvey.rand.org.
The
Women's Health Initiative Study (WHI)
The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term national health
study that has focused on strategies for preventing heart disease,
breast and colorectal cancer and osteoporotic fractures in
postmenopausal women. These chronic diseases are the major causes of
death, disability and frailty in older women of all races and
socioeconomic backgrounds. This multi-million dollar, 15-year project,
sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), involves 161,808 women aged 50-79,
and is one of the most definitive, far-reaching clinical trials of
post-menopausal women's health ever undertaken in the U.S. The WHI
Clinical Trial and Observational Study focused on many of the
inequities in women's health research and will continue to provide
practical information to women and their physicians about hormone
therapy, dietary patterns, calcium/vitamin D supplementation, and their
effects on the prevention of heart disease, cancer and osteoporotic
fractures. The WHI holds a large repository of biological specimens
that are available for ancillary study investigations. WHI will make
available baseline and Year 3 serum, citrate plasma, EDTA plasma
samples, and DNA for use by investigators who successfully compete for
the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).
Women's
Health
and
Aging
Study
III. Pathogenesis of Disability in Older
Women
This study evaluates the role of three potential contributors to the
pathogenesis of disability: inflammation, hormones, micronutrient
deficiencies, singly, in combination, and in relation to existing
diseases, impairments and frailty. These questions are being addressed
through analysis of already-collected data in the “Women’s Health and
Aging Study” (WHAS
I). WHAS I collected interview, physical examination and
performance-based data on the one-third most disabled women living in
the community; an ancillary study collected blood, analyzed many
measures, and stored plasma and serum. These data are
complemented by information obtained in a parallel investigation, WHAS
II, “Risk Factors for Physical Disability in Aging Women,”
which
included the 2/3 least disabled women in the community.
The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES – Costa Rica: Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of health and lifecourse experiences of 2,827 Costa Ricans aged 60 and over in 2005. The main study objective was to determine the length and quality of life, and its contributing factors in the elderly of Costa Rica. Project page at Biomarker Network website. ICPSR documentation.
National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS)
The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) is a new resource for the scientific study of functioning in later life. The NHATS is being conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, with data collection by Westat, and support from the National Institute on Aging. The NHATS will gather information on a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older. In-person interviews will be used to collect detailed information on activities of daily life, living arrangements, economic status and well-being, aspects of early life, and quality of life. Project page at Biomarker Network website.
Tsimane Health and Life History Project
The UNM-UCSB Tsimane Health and Life History Project is a joint health and anthropology project aimed at understanding the impacts of ecology and evolution on the shaping of the human life course. We focus on health, growth and development, aging, economics and biodemography of small-scale populations of hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists. We also combine biomedical and anthropological research with medical attention among Tsimane, an indigenous forager-farming group living in central lowland Bolivia in the Beni Department. Project page at Biomarker Network website.
The Cardiovascular Health Study
The Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) is an NHLBI-funded observational study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adults 65 years or older. Starting in 1989, and continuing through 1999, participants underwent annual extensive clinical examinations. Measurements included traditional risk factors such as blood pressure and lipids as well as measures of subclinical disease, including echocardiography of the heart, carotid ultrasound, and cranial magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI).
Cancer Epidemiology Descriptive Cohort Database
The
list of cohorts participating in the Cancer Epidemiology Descriptive
Cohort Database (CEDCD). Search for a cohort by name or select a cohort
to view a brief description and contact information. If you want to
know more about one or more cohorts, select one of the options from the
menu at the top.