Swedish National Study on Aging and Care – Good Aging in Skåne (SNAC-S)

Cohort 1:

Baseline: 2001 – 2004
Follow-up 1: 2005 – 2006
Follow-up 2: 2007 – 2011
Follow-up 3: 2011 – 2012
Follow-up 4: 2013 – 2017

Cohort 2:

Baseline: 2006 – 2012
Follow-up 1: 2011 – 2012
Follow-up 2: 2013 – 2017

Cohort 3:

Baseline: 2012 – 2016

To keep the number of active participants above 3000, new cohorts have been included every 6 years – meaning 3 new cohorts have been added until now (2007/09; 2013/15 and 2019/21) and always from the age cohorts 60 and 81 year of age.

Cohort 1:

Baseline: 2931 participants
Follow-up 1: 680 participants (81+ years old)

Follow-up 2: 1832 participants (all ages), 1523 participants (new 81, 60 years old)

Follow-up 3: 570 participants (only 81+ years old)

Follow-up 4: 2266 participants (all ages), 1350 participants (new 60, 81 years old)

Cohort 2: 1,523

Cohort 3: 1,350

60+

60+

Information was collected through an examination; a social interview and the assessment of physical functioning (performed by a nurse); a questionnaire was completed by the help of a test administrator; and information was also collected from four additional optional forms: one for a participant getting help from family and another form for a family member helping a participant, as well as forms for a car driver and for a former car driver. Additionally, information was collected from a cognitive assessment (performed by a psychologist); and a clinical examination, including geriatric, neurological and psychiatric assessment (performed by a physician).

The questionnaire collected demographic data and information on living arrangement, education, occupational history, socioeconomic status, life habits including alcohol consumption and smoking, physical functioning (ADL, IADL, motility and strength, sensory functions), social network, leisure activities, nutrition (FFQ, meal distribution, MNA), health related life quality (SF12), Neugarten Life Satisfaction Index, well-being (PANAS, Ware´s Health Perceptions Questionnaire, EQ5D, Walston & Walston), transportation and car driver behavior, accidents and information systems.

The psychological test battery assesses five major cognitive domains: episodic memory, mental tempo, executive functioning, spatial function and semantic memory. The functional tests included hand strength, walking speed and balance, sit to stand, coordination motor function of upper extremity (diadochokinesis), lower extremity walking 15 m x 2 with turning, use of medical and social facilities, and formal and informal care received and provided and caregiver burden scale (CBS), sense of coherence (SOC), caregiver support (Nolan). MRI was performed on selected participants.

From the clinical examination information was collected on family and past clinical history, current and past use of drugs, geriatric examination (general status, heart with ECG and lung function, blood pressure measurements, and symptoms including pain), neurological examination (episodic and semantic memory, language, abstract thinking, praxis, visuospatial ability, gnosis and frontal lobe tests), dementia severity according to the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, psychiatric examination (Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale and Neuropsychiatric Inventory). Laboratory tests and diagnostic conclusions according to standardized criteria were completed.

In addition, medical events of all participants are registered through linkage with primary care registry (when available) and hospital registry (available for all participants in the whole Sweden). In case of death, hospital and death registries provide the clinical information, and an informant interview is carried out.

Longitudinal

Biomarkers, lifestyle, and medical history over the life course, physical status and mental health status.

Institutionen för Hälsovetenskaper, Faculty of Medicine
Lund University

Prof. Sölve Elmståhl
Professor, PI of SNAC-S
Institutionen för Hälsovetenskaper, Faculty of Medicine
Lund University
Tel: +46 40 39 1320
solve.elmstahl@med.lu.se