CHANCES

Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'CHANCES aims at combining and integrating on-going cohort studies in order to produce evidence on ageing-related health characteristics and determinants in Europe, and their socio-economic implications. 15 cohorts participate, covering populations from 18 EU Member States, 4 associate countries, and 3 additional countries. The combination of these different studies would lead to an integrated approach to the study of health in the elderly. CHANCES will address 5 main types of health related characteristics: (i) incidence of chronic conditions, disabilities and mortality; (ii) prevalence of chronic conditions and disabilities; (iii) health-related determinants of chronic conditions and disabilities; (iv) ageing-related characteristics as determinants of chronic condition, disabilities and mortality; and (v) social and economic implications of chronic conditions, disabilities and mortality in the elderly. Analyses will be conducted in subjects aged 50-59, 60-69 and 70 years. Health-related determinants comprise (i) socio-economic factors (e.g., education, income), (ii) environmental factors (e.g., occupational exposures), (iii) lifestyle factors (e.g., tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking), and (iv) nutritional factors (e.g., BMI, dietary patterns), in addition to biomakers and genetic factors. 4 major groups of chronic conditions and disabilities will be studied: (i) cancer; (ii) diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; (iii) fractures and osteoporosis; (iv) cognitive function and Alzheimer disease. Information on other conditions and disabilities (e.g., eye diseases, chronic respiratory conditions) will be also collected if available. Mortality will be assessed in terms of age-specific rates a well as DALYs. A health module will be developed, to be applied to other population surveys. Additionally, the study will generate a unique resource for additional studies on health and its determinants in the elderly. Provisions will be made to allow for this work to be extended.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A major challenge facing modern societies is how they will deal with the ageing of populations; as mortality, morbidity and disability increase steeply with age. An EU-funded initiative has been established to obtain comprehensive data on diverse health outcomes and determinants to improve health and quality of life for the elderly.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

High-quality data ideally needs to be based on repeated unbiased measurements from large ageing population samples around the world. No single database fulfilling all these criteria exists in Europe and to establish such a study is prohibitively expensive.

A more efficient approach was taken by the 'Consortium on health and ageing: Network of cohorts in Europe and the United States' (CHANCES) project. Researchers aim to combine and integrate ongoing cohort studies to collate data on ageing-related health traits and determinants as well as their socioeconomic implications.

The project analysed 15 cohorts from Europe and North America in order to gather new information on the health of ageing populations. Researchers addressed four major groups of chronic conditions and disabilities: cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, bone fractures and osteoporosis, and dementia.

Project partners defined and documented a total of 204 harmonised variables as part of a dynamic and continuous process for new research topics. Progress in harmonising research data across CHANCES cohorts was followed by a large increase in the number of research proposals, bringing together experts from different partner institutions, research areas and scientific disciplines.

A network of statisticians drawn from CHANCES partners provided additional analytical support and identified relevant statistical issues that needed to be addressed. Furthermore, a structure was created and refined in the CHANCES Wiki to document CHANCES data analysis, share programme code and provide a discussion forum for statistical issues.

Project outcomes will increase scientific knowledge about the factors affecting major health and disease outcomes in the elderly. Besides contributing to a better quality of life for Europe's senior citizens, this initiative will create a platform for future collaborative projects on ageing cohorts.