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

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 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

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 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (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 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Changes at Wave 3

• Added new people aged 50-53 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 2002Core Interview (12,099)

ELSA Wave One 2002Core Interview (12,099)

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse1998-1999-2001

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

HSE + Nurse

2001-04

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Core (9,432)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Two 2004Nurse (7,666)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Core (9,771)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

Wave Three 2006Life History (7,848)

HSE + Nurse2006

HSE + Nurse2006

Wave Four 2008Core Interview

Wave Four 2008Core Interview

Wave Four 2008Nurse Visit

Wave Four 2008Nurse Visit

Changes at Wave 4

• Added new people aged 50-74 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 data Autumn 2008

End of life interview data Autumn

2008

Wave 4 interview data End 2009

Wave 4 nurse data Early 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 – 16th July 2008

ELSA users group – Autumn 2008

Where to get more info

ELSA website• http://www.ifs.org.uk/elsa

Data and associated documentation• http://www.esds.ac.uk/longitudinal/

ELSA data manager (Susan Nunn)• s.nunn@natcen.ac.uk

To contact me...• k.cox@natcen.ac.uk

The English Longitudinal Study of

Ageing (ELSA)