Longitundinal Study of Ageing Women

A 15-year longitudinal study investigating the role of environmental, anatomical, physiological, metabolic and genetic factors on health outcomes in older women.

The CAIFOS/CARES/CAREERS cohort belongs to the Bone and Vascular Research Group (BVRG) at the University of Western Australia and is collectively referred to as the Longitudinal Study of Ageing Women (LSAW).

Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study (CAIFOS) 1998-2003

1500 women were originally recruited for the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study (CAIFOS), a five-year population-based study of women aged >70 years to determine the efficacy of calcium supplementation (1200mg/d) in fracture prevention in 1998.

Of the 1275 study subjects who remained active at the end of the CAIFOS study (2003), 1136 subsequently enrolled in the CARES study, a five-year NHMRC supported extension of the CAIFOS study to collect further information regarding factors that influence osteoporosis and other diseases.

In February 2008, 963 (85%) of the CARES cohort (64% of the CAIFOS cohort) were still active in the NHMRC funded CAREES cohort study of aging (Project number 572604) which completed in 2013.

Hosptial Morbidity Data Management System

All participants have linked hospital morbidity data through the West Australian Hosptial Morbidity Data Management System.

Biological samples

Biological samples (blood and urine) were also collected at multiple time points and will be available for future analysis, subject to ethical compliance. This cohort represents a valuable opportunity for cost effective future research. Additional information about the available data can be found in the LSAW Data Dictionary's.

Ethics

In accordance with Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of research and Research Data Management Policies from the collaborating universities, this effort would promote the availability and use of the existing data to the research community.