By Debra Sheets, PhD, MSN, RN-BC, CNE
The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) is unfolding at 11 major universities and in communities across the country. The CLSA is a large, national, long-term study that will follow approximately 50,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 85 for at least 20 years, including approximately 8,500 men and women in B.C. The data collected as part of the CLSA will form a national research database that will help scientists to answer key questions about health and aging, and lead to new insights and better understanding of what it means to age well. The CLSA will be one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind
undertaken to date, not only in Canada but around the world. The CLSA has recruited more than 14,000 participants thus far, with recruitment of 50,000 to
be completed by 2015.
Drs. Debra Sheets and Lynne Young are UVic site leaders for the CLSA, working in concert with researchers at the UVic Centre on Aging. The UVic data collection site (DCS) at the Gorge Road Hospital opened in August 2012 with state-of-the-art equipment used for a variety of testing, including heart, lung and vascular functions, bone density and body composition, vision and hearing, strength, mobility and balance, and cognitive function. Blood and urine specimens are also collected and after processing are sent to the Biorepository at McMaster University. The clinical assessments take on average 3 hours to complete and about 5 participants a day will come through our clinic. Over the next year, the UVic site will recruit 1,000 randomly chosen participants living within a 25-kilometre radius of the campus. Study participants will return for further testing and interviews every three years for a total of 20 years. The UVic data collection site is being managed by Vincenza Gruppuso and employs eight interviewers, lab technicians and research assistants.
In addition UVic has a computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) site at the Centre on Aging. In total, 20,000 participants will take part in telephone interviews conducted at one of four Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) sites throughout the country. The other CATI sites are located at Dalhousie University, Université de Sherbrooke and the University of Manitoba. All four CATI sites have been active since 2010 and will continue for the full duration
of the study. So far, the UVic CATI site has completed approximately 2000 interviews. Data collection at the CATI sites uses secure hardware and software systems that store participant data in a de-identified manner. The CATI software schedules interviews, tracks their status and reports on their progress until completion of the study. The UVic CATI site is managed by Lois Edgar and employs 3 supervisors and 20 interviewers.
Co-Site Leaders for the UVic CLSA, Debra Sheets and Lynne Young, note that the CLSA is launching a new era in gerontology research that will provide a platform for interdisciplinary research that will increase our understanding of the factors that influence healthy aging. Researchers with an interest in aging will have many opportunities to become more actively involved in this project which holds great promise for the future of aging research in Canada.
The CFI and Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) are funding the study, with additional support from provincial governments and affiliated universities and research institutions.
Visit http://www.clsa-elcv.ca/news/unprecedented-study-investigates-aging-well to watch an interview with Debra about the CLSA.
From the 2013 Fall Communiqué — History of Nursing
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