Collected Dataset / HRS_Wave_9

The Asset and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) sub-sample consists of people who were born in 1923 or earlier, were household residents of the conterminous U.S. in the spring 1992, and were still household residents at the time of their first interview in 1993 or 1994, and their spouses or partners who could be of any age.

AHEAD uses the same national probability sample of U.S. households with supplemental oversamples of Blacks, Hispanics and residents of the state of Florida as the HRS, but a dual frame approach was used for individuals born prior to 1914.

The assignment of households to the two groups is based on the age of the oldest person in the household financial unit. If the single adult or either spouse in a married couple was born prior to 1914, the household financial unit is assigned to Group 2. If the single adult or both persons in a married couple were born after 1913 the household financial unit is assigned to Group 1. The full national sample of AHEAD-eligible households is divided approximately 60% to Group 1 and 40% to Group 2. Under the AHEAD sample design, Group 1 households are selected exclusively from the area probability (AP) frame component. Group 2 households are selected using a dual-frame design, roughly 50% of the Group 2 sample originating with the AP frame and the remaining 50% from a stratified sampling from a list frame of Medicare enrollees.

AHEAD Group 1 households were interviewed by telephone except in cases where there was no telephone in the household or the respondent was unable to complete the interview by telephone. Their spouses were also interviewed by telephone. Most respondents in Group 2. were interviewed face- to-face in their homes, although telephone interviews were permitted in cases where the respondent preferred the telephone mode. Face-to- face interviews were also the primary mode of Wave 1 data collection for the spouses of these respondents, irrespective of the spouse's age.

The interviews were conducted by using the enhanced face-to-face: a mixed-mode design in which half of the sample is assigned a face-to-face interview with physical and biological measures and psychosocial questionnaire, and the other half only the core interview by telephone. The half-samples alternate waves.

The core questionnaires included sections directed at: demographic background, health status, housing, family structure and transfers, employment of respondent, job, disability, retirement plans, cognition, net worth other than housing, income, health and life insurance, and widowhood.

Participants were left with a copy of a psychosocial questionnaire and were asked at the end of the interview, to complete and return it by mail. Well-being, lifestyle, social relationships, personality, work, and self-related beliefs were measured in this questionnaire.

In addition, interviewers administered physical tests and obtained biological specimens. Physical measures included grip strength, timed walk, lung function, balance, height and weight, waist circumference and blood pressure. Saliva and blood were also obtained.

Social Security earnings and benefits records were obtained from Medicare record and using the Employer Identification Number (EIN), they collected pension plan information from respondents’ current and past employers. Finally, healthcare utilization and other data were assessed from the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare.

In the event of the participant's death, either the National Death Index (NDI) or attempts at an interview with a surviving spouse, child or other informant was used to obtain information about medical expenditures, family interactions, disposition of assets following death, and other circumstances during the final stages of life.