Danish 1905 Cohort Study, 1998 : Version 1

• Main Authors: Christensen, Kaare, Duke University
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: ICPSR - Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research 2005
• Subjects: Faroe Islands; Greenland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3886/icpsr03960.v1; http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACDA/studies/3960/version/1

This data collection provides information on individuals born in Denmark in 1905 and who were still living in Denmark in 1998. The overall goal of the study was to establish a genetic-epidemiological database to shed light on the aging process among the extremely old. The data focus on their physical and cognitive functioning. Respondents were asked if they had been previously diagnosed with diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, asthma, migraine, cancer, stroke, heart attack, or depression, and if they were experiencing such ailments as cough, body pains, and bone fracture and were taking medication for them. Questions probed respondents' feelings about their health, life, and future. To assess respondents' general health and functioning, they were asked if they needed assistance with toileting, bathing, dressing, and mobility around the house; how often they needed to use the bathroom during the night; and if they used physical aids such as wheelchairs, eyeglasses, crutches, catheters, or diapers. They were also tested for memory and cognition, mobility, vision, speech, hearing, and lung functioning. Information was also elicited on respondents' mental state and awareness, energy level, menopause, frequency of visits with children and family, visits from a nurse, use of home care services, sleeping patterns, smoking and drinking habits, weight gain or loss, exercises, social activities, hobbies, reading habits, television viewing, and recent deaths in the family. Demographic information includes age, education, and marital status. : The data are not weighted and contain no weights. : ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. : Response Rates: 63 percent : Datasets: DS1: Dataset : face-to-face interview The data, setup files, and documentation for this collection contain characters with diacritical marks used in the Danish language. : All individuals born in Denmark in 1905, excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland, and who were still living in Denmark in 1998. Smallest Geographic Unit: none : A total of 2,262 persons born in Denmark in 1905. In cases where the individual was cognitively or physically impaired a proxy answered the questions. A home-based two-hour multidimensional interview, including cognitive and physical performance tests and collection of DNA, was carried out by lay interviewers. Population-based registers were used to evaluate how representative the sample was of the population. The participants were located through the Danish Central Office of Civil Registration.