The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - Wave 8

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - ­Wave 8

  • IRAS ID

    185367

  • Contact name

    Smaragda Agathou

  • Contact email

    s.agathou@ucl.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University College London

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    Z6364106/2013/09/06, UCL data protection number

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 0 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) is a survey of men and women aged 50 and over. Participants were interviewed in 2002­2003 and since then they have been contacted once every two years for a new interview and once every four
    years for a health examination. The study is a collaboration between the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, University of Manchester and NatCen Social Research, with inputs from other expert groups as necessary.
    The primary objective is to collect longitudinal data on health, disability, economic circumstances, social participation and networks, and wellbeing, from a representative sample of the English population aged 50 and older. ELSA aims to provide the data necessary for an exploration of the unfolding dynamic relationships between health and functioning, social participation and networks, and economic position and wellbeing, as people plan for, move into, and progress beyond retirement. The focus is multidisciplinary, and detailed economic, social, cognitive, health, biological,and genetic data have been collected. ELSA data are available to academics, government policy analysts, and the public through the UK Data Archive.
    This application is for Wave 8 of ELSA (2016- ­2017).
    This wave of fieldwork will involve a Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) carried out by a trained interviewer, together with self completion questionnaires. Some participants will also take part in a nurse visit where anthropometric measures and blood tests will be taken. Most questions are the same as in previous waves so that changes in
    circumstances and function can be tracked, but there are new elements as detailed in the protocol. In cases where the participant is physically, mentally or cognitively unable to carry out the study, the interviewer will try to obtain a proxy interview. The procedure for carrying out proxy interviews is detailed later in this application.

  • REC name

    South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    15/SC/0526

  • Date of REC Opinion

    28 Sep 2015

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion