Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA)
VETSA is a longitudinal behavioural genetic study with a primary focus on cognitive and brain aging in men, comprising a subset of over 1,200 twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. VETSA participants are all part of the larger Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Data collection for VETSA Wave 1 was conducted from 2003 to 2007. A total of 1,237 twins participated. All VETSA participants are men and all were in some branch of military service at some time between 1965 and 1975.
Study design
Cohort - occupational, Registry
Number of participants at first data collection
1,237 (participants)
Age at first data collection
52 – 60 years (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
Male
Representative sample at baseline?
All veterans from the Vietnam War era on a variety of socio-demographic variables.
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
2003
Primary Institutions
Boston University (BU)
University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego)
Links
Profile paper DOI
Funders
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Secondary data
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Other government data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
