English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
ELSA is a longitudinal study collecting multidisciplinary data from a representative sample of the English population aged 50 and older. ELSA began in 2002 with a sample of around 12,000 individuals and their partners, drawn from households that had previously responded to the Health Survey for England (HSE) between 1998 and 2001. Participants are followed-up at two-yearly interviews to measure changes in health, economic and social circumstances. The sample is periodically refreshed using HSE participants to ensure that it remains representative.
Study design
Cohort - open, Cohort
Number of participants at first data collection
11,391 (participants)
708 (partners)
Recruitment is ongoing
Age at first data collection
≥ 50 years (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
English population of over 50's
Sample features
Countries
Year of first data collection
2002
Primary Institutions
University College London (UCL)
Links
Profile paper DOI
Funders
Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC)
Department for International Development (DFID) now known as Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Interview – face-to-face
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Self-report questionnaire – online
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- None
- Healthcare data
- Healthcare data
- Mortality data
- Tax, income & benefit data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
