The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) 2008 Update Kate Cox

Content Brief background to ELSA Current wave of data collection Data and documentation available for ELSA Future ELSA events

Key facts about ELSA A study of people aged 50+ and their partners Multi-disciplinary - health, economic and social circumstances Longitudinal - change over time Comparative - USA (HRS) and Europe (SHARE) Funding - National Institute on Aging, UK Government Departments

Dept of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL National Centre for Social Research Institute for Fiscal Studies and UCL Dept of Economics Universities of Cambridge, East Anglia and Exeter, and Imperial College Research Team

History

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse

Interview Content at Wave 1 Household and individual demographics Health Social participation Work and pensions Income and assets Housing and consumption Cognitive function (assessments) Expectations Psychosocial health Final questions Timed walk (assessment) Self-completion

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666)

Interview Content at Wave 2 Household and individual demographics Health Social participation Work and pensions Income and assets Housing and consumption Cognitive function (assessments) Expectations Effort and reward (of voluntary work and caring) Psychosocial health Final questions Timed walk (assessment) Self-completion

Changes at Wave 2 Some new topics - e.g. quality of health care received, alcohol consumption, literacy assessment Moves into institution End of life interview Nurse visit

Nurse Content at Wave 2 Blood pressure Grip strength Blood sample (fasting where possible) Height (standing, sitting) Weight Waist and hip measurement Lung function Balance Leg rise Chair raise Saliva sample (after visit) Self-completion on personal beliefs & wellbeing (one in ten households)

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848)

Changes at Wave 3 Added new people aged to sample No new modules, but some new questions - dental health, use of services, consumption of fruit & vegetables New self completions - anchoring vignettes Short telephone interview with persistent refusers Life history interview

Life History Interview

Life History Interview Follow up interview at Wave 3 Asks about childhood and important life events Aim to enhance our understanding of how early life and events throughout life impact upon circumstances of older people Calendar technique to enhance recall

Topics covered Children & fertility Partners Where lived Work history Health Relationship with parents as a child Other important life events

ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) ELSA Wave One 2002 Core Interview (12,099) HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse HSE + Nurse Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Core (9,432) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Two 2004 Nurse (7,666) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Core (9,771) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) Wave Three 2006 Life History (7,848) HSE + Nurse 2006 HSE + Nurse 2006 Wave Four 2008 Core Interview Wave Four 2008 Core Interview Wave Four 2008 Nurse Visit Wave Four 2008 Nurse Visit

Changes at Wave 4 Added new people aged to sample New questions – sleep, menopause, working beyond state pension age, receipt of monetary gifts, formal/informal volunteering, identifying carers, use of respite services, TV watching, altruism Added numeracy questions back in from Wave 1 Nurse visits – in institutions

Nurse Content at Wave 4 Blood pressure Grip strength Blood sample (fasting where possible) Height (standing, sitting) Weight Waist and hip measurement Lung function Balance Leg rise Chair raise Saliva sample (after visit) – for new sample & 10% of original sample

Data available

ELSA data in archive Waves 1 – 3 Core variables and financial derived variables Training dataset Wave 2 nurse data Wave 0 (HSE) data Index file for linking (including mortality data)

ELSA documentation Currently archived: Complete questionnaires Field documents, coding & editing info etc. User guides for datasets Future developments: Flowcharts of questionnaire Interactive documentation – also HRS and SHARE

Future data to be archived Life History Interview dataAutumn 2008 End of life interview dataAutumn 2008 Wave 4 interview dataEnd 2009 Wave 4 nurse dataEarly 2010

Other data available (not archived) Geography (Waves 0, 1 & 2) Wave 2 genetics data Other non-archived variables

Administrative data DWP & HMRC administrative data National insurance contributions Benefit records Tax credit records Added at Wave 3: tax records, savings and pensions Request access from NatCen data manager Additional health data Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) Cancer register To be matched soon

Future ELSA events Launch of Wave 3 report – 16 th July 2008 ELSA users group – Autumn 2008

Where to get more info ELSA website Data and associated documentation ELSA data manager (Susan Nunn) To contact me...

The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)