All eligible UK study members were contacted: 2647 study members gave information, of which 2,370 study members completed a postal questionnaire and 2,149 study members completed a home visit.
Provided information | 2,648 | ||||||
Cumulative total of deaths | 957 | ||||||
Cumulative permanent refusals (withdrawn from the study) | 620 | ||||||
Currently not resident in England, Scotland or Wales (83 completed the postal questionnaire) | 574 | ||||||
Failure to contact (unable to contact for 10 years) | 395 | ||||||
The postal questionnaire was sent out when study members were aged 68; up to two reminder letters were sent to those who did not return a completed questionnaire.
The home visit was conducted over the next 18 months by research nurses recruited and employed by the fieldwork partners Kantar Public and Medicals Direct Group. An electronic questionnaire was administered by nurses using laptop computers to ask about health, disability, medication, smoking and exercise habits. Nurses took measurements of body size, blood pressure, grip strength and respiration, also administering tests of balance and walking speed. They then took blood samples which were spun within the study member's home.
During the course of the home visit, the study member was asked to complete a paper questionnaire, the short (28 item) General Health Questionnaire. Nurses also administered the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive examination (ACE-III), visual search task and finger tapping test. At the end of the home visit study members were asked if they would like to wear an activity monitor for the following seven days. Nurses left a short activity questionnaire with the study members who had consented to wear the monitor and this was to be completed and returned by post along with the monitor at the end of the seven day period.
The study team and specialist colleagues trained the nurses over consecutive two days. The nurses’ instruction manual is available to view.