Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health

The Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) is run by the World Health Organization's Multi-Country Studies unit in the Information, Evidence and Research Cluster. SAGE is part of the unit's Longitudinal Study Programme which is attempting to compile comprehensive longitudinal data on the health and well-being of adult populations through primary data collection and secondary data analysis.

SAGE baseline data was collected in 2002/2003 as part of the WHO's World Health Survey (WHS). A second round of data collection in 2007/2008 is ongoing and has expanded the sample sizes in each participating country (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa).

AGE I

A baseline cohort for the six participating countries was created as part of the WHS and contains data on the situation of 65,964 adults aged 18 years and older, including over 20,000 persons aged 50 years and older. Samples of these respondents were followed-up as a part of SAGE 2007/08 data collection in each country.

AGE II

SAGE's first full round of data collection included both follow-up and new respondents. The goal of the sampling design was to obtain a nationally representative cohort of persons aged 50 years and older, with a smaller cohort of persons aged 18 to 49 for comparison purposes. The target sample size was 5000 households with at least one person aged 50+ years and 1000 households with an 18 to 49 year old respondent. In the older households, all persons aged 50+ years (for example, spouses and siblings) were invited to participate. Proxy respondents were identified for respondents who were unable to respond for themselves.

Data collected

Standardized SAGE survey instruments were used in all countries consisting of five main parts: 1) household questionnaire; 2) individual questionnaire; 3) proxy questionnaire; 4) verbal autopsy questionnaire; and, 5) appendices including showcards. A question by question guide (Survey Manual) is available. A VAQ was completed for deaths in the household over the last 24 months. The procedures for including country-specific adaptations to the standardized questionnaire and translations into local languages from English follow those developed by and used for the World Health Survey.

Links to other studies

SAGE adapted methods and instruments used by the WHS and/or from 16 surveys on ageing (including the [http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS)] and the UK English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)) to collect household data on persons aged 50 years and older in 23 countries, including links to other data collection efforts such as the [http://www.share-project.org Study on Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)] , the [https://mmic.rand.org/wiki/index.php/KLoSA_Survey Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA)] , the World Health Survey Plus (WHS+) in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (plus Yemen), and demographic surveillance fieldsites in [http://www.indepth-network.net INDEPTH] .

Direction

The WHO's Multi-Country Studies unit is headed by Dr Somnath Chatterji and SAGE is coordinated by Dr Paul Kowal and Ms Nirmala Naidoo. The unit is under the direction of Dr Ties Boerma in the Department of Measurement and Health Information Systems.

Funding

The National Institute on Aging, Behavioural and Social Research Department [http://www.nia.nih.gov/ResearchInformation/ExtramuralPrograms/BehavioralAndSocialResearch (NIA BSR)] has provided the financial support for this project, through Interagency Agreements, and has facilitated forums for in-depth discussions about study content, design and implementation. The NIA BSR has been instrumental in promoting linkages between longitudinal studies on ageing and adult health around the world.

External links

* [http://www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/sage/en/index.html Study on global AGEing and Adult Health]
* [http://www.indepth-network.net INDEPTH]
* [http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/ US Census Bureau, International Programs Center, Aging Studies Branch]
* [http://www.share-project.org Study on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)]
* [http://www.ifs.org.uk/elsa English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)]
* [http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS)]
* [http://www.clesaproject.org/index.htm Comparisons of Longitudinal European Studies on Ageing (CLESA)]
* [http://www.alswh.org.au Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH)]
* [http://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/afran/index.html African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN)]
* [http://www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageing/en/index.html Minimum Data Set (MDS) Project on Evidence and Information for Ageing and Adult Health]