Individual Study / HAS

Hertfordshire Ageing Study

Hertfordshire Ageing Study

Networks -
Datasets -
Variables -
Start Year
1920
Visit HAS

Members

Download
Investigators Contacts
  • Prof. Cyrus Cooper
    MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton
  • Prof. Avan Aihie Sayer
    MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton
  • Prof. Cyrus Cooper
    MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton

Design

Study design
Cohort
Follow Up

The NHSCR (National Health Service Central Register) was used to trace 6,803 men and women born in North Hertfordshire between 1920 and 1930, for whom birth and infancy data had been recorded. The NHSCR identified 2,621 men and women as resident in the UK in 1994; 1,428 of these were still resident in North Hertfordshire. With permission from their GP, we invited these men and women to participate in a home interview and clinic at which a wide panel of markers of ageing were characterised (including grip strength, cognitive function, anthropometry, visual acuity and lens opacity, hearing threshold and skin thickness). This first HAS follow-up was conducted between 1994 and 1995 when the participants ranged in age from 63 to 73 years. A second follow-up was conducted in 2003-05, a median of 9 years after the first follow-up, when participants were aged 72-83 years.

Supplementary Information

Marker Paper

Syddall HE, Simmonds SJ, Martin HJ, Watson C, Dennison EM, Cooper C, Sayer AA; Hertfordshire Cohort Study Group. Cohort profile: The Hertfordshire Ageing Study (HAS). Int J Epidemiol. 2010 Feb;39(1):36-43. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyn275.

PUBMED 19131391

Recruitment

Recruitment Target
  • Individuals

Number of Participants

Number of Participants
1,428
Number of Participants with Biological Samples
717

Access

Availability of data and biosamples

Possible Access to Data
Possible Access to Biosamples
Other

Timeline

HAS - Population

Selection Criteria
Newborns
Twins
Countries
  • United Kingdom
Territory

North Hertfordshire

Ethnic Origin
Health Status

Recruitment

Sources of recruitment
  • General population
General Population
  • Selected sample

Number of Participants

Number of Participants
1,428
Number of Participants with Biological Samples
717
Supplementary Information about selection criteria

Baseline: 1428 individuals

Follow-up 1: Target population: 1428 individuals residing in North Hertfordshire: 824 participants for the interview of which 717 with biological samples.

Follow-up 2: Target population: 717 individuals with biological samples from follow-up 1: 359 participants for the interview of which 294 with biological samples.

Data Collection Events
# Name Description Start End
0 HAS - Baseline

Baseline assessment of participants during the age of 0-5 years. Early life measures (weight at birth, method of infant feeding, weight at one year of age, illness and development to ...

1920 1930
1 HAS - Follow-up 1

The first HAS follow-up was conducted in 1994-95 when the participants' age ranged from 63 to 73 years. Data were collected from home interview and clinic assessment and cover an extensive ...

1994 1995
2 HAS - Follow-up 2

The second formal follow-up was conducted in 2003-05 when participant members of the cohort were aged 72-83 years. Data were collected from home interview and clinic assessment and cover ...

2003 2005

Classifications

Socio-demographic and economic characteristics
Lifestyle and behaviours
Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history
Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations
Diseases
Symptoms and signs
Medication and supplements
Non-pharmacological interventions
Health and community care services utilization
Death
Physical measures and assessments
Laboratory measures
Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments
Life events, life plans, beliefs and values
Preschool, school and work life
Social environment and relationships
Physical environment
Administrative information
Cognitive functioning
Personality
Psychological distress and emotions
Other psychological measures and assessments
Life events
Beliefs and values
Perception of health
Quality of life
Life course development
Functional limitations
Other perception of health, quality of life and functional limitation-related information
Tobacco
Alcohol
Drugs
Nutrition
Breastfeeding
Physical activity
Sleep
Sexual behaviours and orientation
Technological devices
Misbehaviour and criminality
Other and unspecified lifestyle information

Socio-demographic and economic characteristics

Age/birthdate
Sex/gender
Marital/partner status
Family and household structure
Education
Residence
Birthplace
Labour force and retirement
Income, possessions, and benefits
Other socio-demographic and economic characteristics

Lifestyle and behaviours

Tobacco
Alcohol
Nutrition
Breastfeeding
Physical activity
Other and unspecified lifestyle information

Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history

Puberty, menstruation, menopause and andropause
Contraception
Pregnancy, delivery and birth

Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations

Perception of health
Quality of life
Functional limitations
Use of assistive devices
Other perception of health, quality of life and functional limitation-related information

Diseases

Certain infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99)
Neoplasms (C00-D48)
Diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (D50-D89)
Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90)
Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F99)
Diseases of the nervous system (G00-G99)
Diseases of the eye and adnexa (H00-H59)
Diseases of the ear and mastoid process (H60-H95)
Diseases of the circulatory system (I00-I99)
Diseases of the respiratory system (J00-J99)
Diseases of the digestive system (K00-K93)
Diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue (L00-L99)
Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99)
Diseases of the genitourinary system (N00-N99)
Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (S00-T98)
External causes of morbidity and mortality (V01-Y98)
Diseases without precise specification or falling into multiple categories

Symptoms and signs

Symptoms and signs involving the circulatory and respiratory systems (R00-R09)
Symptoms and signs involving the digestive system and abdomen (R10-R19)
Symptoms and signs involving nervous and musculoskeletal systems (R25-R29)
Symptoms and signs involving cognition, perception, emotional state and behaviour (R40-R46)
Symptoms and signs involving speech and voice (R47-R49)
General symptoms and signs (R50-R69)

Medication and supplements

Medication and supplement intake

Non-pharmacological interventions

Surgical interventions
Other and unspecified non-pharmacological interventions

Health and community care services utilization

Visits to health professionals
Hospitalizations
Community and social care

Death

Vital status

Physical measures and assessments

Physical characteristics
Anthropometry
Circulation and respiration
Muscles, skeleton and mobility
Sensory and pain
Skin and subcutaneous tissue

Laboratory measures

Hematology
Biochemistry
Virology
Immunology
Genomics

Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments

Cognitive functioning
Personality
Psychological distress and emotions

Life events, life plans, beliefs and values

Beliefs and values

Preschool, school and work life

Work life

Social environment and relationships

Social network
Social participation
Social support

Physical environment

Housing characteristics
Radiation exposure
Chemical exposure
Biological exposure

Administrative information

Identifiers
Date and time-related information
Questionnaire and interview-related information
Physical and cognitive measure and biosample-related information
Data and sample collection center-related information
Other administrative information

Cognitive functioning

AH4 Group Test of General Intelligence
Abbreviated Mental Test
Mini-Mental State Examination
Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale

Personality

Flexible Goal Adjustment Scale
NEO Personality Inventory
Tenacious Goal Pursuit Scale

Psychological distress and emotions

Geriatric Depression Scale
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale

Beliefs and values

Experiencing Old Ageing Scale

Quality of life

Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale
Short-Form 36 Health Survey

Functional limitations

Fried Frailty Phenotype Criteria
Strawbridge Frailty Questionnaire
Townsend Disability Scale

Nutrition

Food Frequency Questionnaire (different forms)