HALCyon Healthy Ageing across the Life Course
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
Publications
Alfred T
(2013)
Genetic variants influencing biomarkers of nutrition are not associated with cognitive capability in middle-aged and older adults.
in The Journal of nutrition
Alfred T
(2013)
Associations between a polymorphism in the pleiotropic GCKR and Age-related phenotypes: the HALCyon programme.
in PloS one
Alfred T
(2012)
A multi-cohort study of polymorphisms in the GH/IGF axis and physical capability: the HALCyon programme.
in PloS one
Birnie K
(2011)
Socio-economic disadvantage from childhood to adulthood and locomotor function in old age: a lifecourse analysis of the Boyd Orr and Caerphilly prospective studies.
in Journal of epidemiology and community health
Clouston SA
(2013)
The dynamic relationship between physical function and cognition in longitudinal aging cohorts.
in Epidemiologic reviews
Clouston SA
(2012)
Benefits of educational attainment on adult fluid cognition: international evidence from three birth cohorts.
in International journal of epidemiology
| Description | HALCyon has used interdisciplinary and integrative research to better understand how healthy ageing is affected by social, psychological and biological factors operating across the whole of life. This involved the utilisation of existing and newly collected data from 9 UK cohort studies. These cohorts included over 30,000 men and women born between 1918 and 1958, and who were aged 50 and older at the start of the programme. The findings from the HALCyon research programme suggest that a broad set of modifiable risk factors across life already identified for chronic diseases may also affect the chance of optimising capability and wellbeing in later life. In the 46 papers produced by the HALCyon collaboration we have reported on a wide range of findings from our investigations into the factors across life associated with healthy ageing across cohorts including: robust evidence of the influence of childhood socioeconomic circumstances (at both the individual and area level) and lifetime body size on later life physical capability, and of early cognition and education on later life cognition; some evidence that the ability of the HPA axis to mount a good stress induced response may protect physical capability; no clear or consistent evidence of associations of genetic factors and telomere length with capability; limited evidence of associations between early life factors and anxiety and depression in later life but clear evidence of influences of poor health and disability on these psychological outcomes and; evidence of a modest association between childhood cognitive ability and wellbeing in later life. The team have: identified research priorities by showing how few studies have investigated the dynamic relationship between physical and cognitive capability; and started to fill research gaps by carrying out cross cohort studies showing modest associations between capability and subsequent wellbeing. Specific examples include: • a systematic review and meta-analysis of all published data which showed that, after adjusting for age, those who have weaker grip strength, slower walking speed, greater difficulty getting up from a chair and poorer standing balance performance are more likely to die sooner and develop health problems than people who perform well in these tests. (Cooper et al., British Medical Journal 2010 and Cooper et al., Age and Ageing 2011). • analyses of the MRC National Survey of Health and Development which showed that neuroticism and extraversion in adolescence are associated with positive mental wellbeing and life satisfaction at age 60-64 (Gale et al., Journal of Research in Personality 2013). • an investigation into how to deal with inconsistencies in census area socioeconomic measures over time, changes in reporting unit size to which measures apply, and secular social changes over time (Murray et al., Health and Place 2012). • the combining of results from a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data with new analyses undertaken across the HALCyon cohorts to formally re-evaluate the claims that the ACTN3 genotype influences sporting performance. The systematic review found evidence of an effect of this genotype on power/sprint athletic status in Europeans but that there was no evidence of an effect of this genotype on physical capability in the general population (Alfred et al., Human Mutation 2011). • meta-analyses using data from six cohorts (four HALCyon cohorts plus Whitehall II and LASA), found that a more dynamic HPA axis, best measured by greater diurnal decline, was associated with faster walking speed and better chair rise times among participants aged 50-92y. However, there was no strong evidence of associations with grip strength or standing balance (Gardner et al,.Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013). • qualitative interviews with subsamples of participants from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study and MRC National Survey of Health and Development which highlighted a) that there are some differences in the way older people view aspects of ageing by capability, b) that although advantages of ageing are widely perceived, physical decline and associated health concerns are recurring themes, c) the importance of the partner's health during ageing as well as the health of the participant (Parsons et al., Ageing and Society 2012). • Although assessment of telomere length is used diagnostically in some well defined clinical areas, the use of telomere length to aid diagnosis or risk assessment in the general population is premature (von Zglinicki, British Medical Journal 2012). HALCyon has played a major role in advancing understanding of the requirements for the harmonisation of data both between and within cohorts, developing approaches to the coordinated analyses of these data across cohorts and carrying out sensitivity analyses and highlighting the challenges. HALCyon researchers joined forces with researchers on the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging (IALSA) network to secure funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research to support a Post-Doctoral Researcher and have secured further funding from the US National Institutes of Health to continue the HALCyon network. |
| Exploitation Route | There are substantial challenges of translating research findings from observational studies, such as those produced by HALCyon, into practice or policy-relevant messages for healthy ageing. However, following the completion of the HALCyon programme further investigation is now warranted to determine how the findings can be translated into practice so that the programme has not only a scientific but also an economic and societal impact. We are currently building up connections with experts in social policy at LSE to do this. HALCyon will continue through the Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging and Dementia (IALSA) research network. |
| Sectors | Healthcare Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | http://www.halcyon.ac.uk |
| Description | The findings of the HALCyon programme have reached further than the academic community. A summary brochure was designed to accompany the 'A life course approach to Healthy Ageing' book produced for an academic audience and is being disseminated in print and online to a wider, more general audience with the help of our knowledge transfer partner, Age UK. This brochure considers the ideas presented in the book about how we might delay or slow down the progressive, generalised impairment of function that occurs at the individual, body system and cellular levels, as people grow older. It also considers the determinants of wellbeing in older people, including personal fulfilment, positive emotions and lifelong social relationships HALCyon developed ways of conceptualising, defining and measuring healthy ageing in order to investigate lifetime factors that impact on this. What the HALCyon team learnt during the programme (which was written up in the OUP book 'A life course approach to healthy ageing' and in the accompanying brochure) has driven future research directions at the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing (LHA) which led HALCyon, and in new consortia, such as CLOSER, IALSA, and various European collaborations, that the HALCyon team joined forces with to maintain research funding for this type of research. One of the 5-year objectives for LHA is to develop more links with policymakers and researchers involved in policy research on ageing for the government; for example, we have established an evolving and growing link with experts in social policy at LSE. Through CLOSER we are developing more links with policy makers interested in healthy ageing, and have contributed an evidence summary on physical capability (one of the main components of healthy ageing) for their new website, aimed at a wide audience, including policy makers; and we also plan to feature 'ageing' as a special CLOSER topic in Autumn 2015. Members of the HALCyon team are providing a growing number of training and capacity building events, through CLOSER and IALSA, and through invitations to lead a Wellcome Trust Scientific conference and a themed issue of the International Journal of Epidemiology on the topic of 'A life course approach to ageing', both in 2015, and through our participation in an MRC review of healthy ageing indicators that will offer guidance to the field. We also took our message to a large European meeting in Montpelier in 2014 that was attended by several EU policymakers and will present again at an upcoming meeting in Poland in 2015. We have also incorporated measurements of healthy ageing into a large scale Russian survey. HALCyon also provided a model for growing collaborations and networks in the field of cross cohort and ageing research, including data sharing protocols and data harmonisation protocols. Policy relevant messages from the HALCyon programme are also being disseminated via the European Research Edition of International Innovation which is a printed open access research report focused on communicating healthcare research worldwide and helping researchers connect and build projects and partnerships between different regions and show the impact of their research on the wider health community. Overall HALCyon with its cross cohort research portfolio, has contributed significantly to the growing emphasis on functional change in UK ageing research, both aetiological and policy driven, which integrates rather than separates research on specific age-related diseases. In that sense it has had a strong cultural as well as a societal impact. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
| Sector | Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Title | HALCyon data sets and meta data |
| Description | One of the main aims of HALCyon was to perform comparable analyses across 9 British cohort studies which tested the inter-relationships between: physical and cognitive capability; social and psychological wellbeing and; underlying biological markers of ageing. Another main aim was to test the associations of factors across life with each of these three sets of measures. In the majority of cases, this involved harmonising secondary data from the 9 participating studies which had been provided to the HALCyon study team by cohort PIs. For details of how to access the most up to date versions of these secondary data please contact the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, the relevant cohort leads or where available download these data from UK Data Service ReShare (for ELSA and 1958 birth cohort). The following documentation is freely available via UK Data Service ReShare or the HALCyon data documentation page (1) lists of the comparable variables available in each cohort for topics of relevance to HALCyon; (2) Stata syntax which was used to clean and recode data for use in analyses that were comparable across cohorts. The NDA grant for HALCyon also included funds to - collect comparable data on wellbeing in: Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS); Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS); Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936 (ABC1936) See for example: Cooper R et al. AGE 2014;36:445-456 - measure telomere length using existing blood samples in: Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 (LBC1921); CaPS; Hertfordshire Ageing study (HAS); MRC National Survey of Health and Development See for example: Gardner M et al. PLoS One 2013;8(7):e69526 - perform cortisol assays using existing saliva samples in: CaPS and NSHD See for example: Gardner M et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013;38:40-49 - undertake qualitative interviews with HCS and NSHD participants (30 in each study) See for example: The content of the interview topic guide, the sampling strategy and the characteristics of the sample achieved are described in a Centre for Longitudinal Studies working paper (2011/5), by Jane Elliott et al, October 2011 |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A data request was made for the HALCyon dataset and this was provided |
| URL | http://www.halcyon.ac.uk/?q=node/366 |
| Description | A life course approach to ageing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at 8th World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, Singapore, 17-20th November 2013 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | A life course approach to ageing: recent findings from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development and other UK cohort studies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Talk at Liverpool University |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | A life course approach to physical capability |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | HALCyon symposium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | A life course approach to physical capability: What have we found in HALCyon and where will we go from here? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Lecture at a symposium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| Description | A life course approach to physical capability: What have we found in HALCyon and where will we go from here? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | A life course approach to physical capability: What have we found in HALCyon and where will we go from here? CLOSER Symposium: Functioning well in later life:What is the evidence from longitudinal studies? London 15th January 2013. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | A life course approach to physical capability: findings from the HALCyon research programme. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation at conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | A life course approach to psychological and social wellbeing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | HALCyon symposium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Ageing Mechanisms and Biomarker Research. Key note lecture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | key note lecture |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Ageing mechanisms and biomarker research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Keynote lecture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | An epidemiological perspective on biological models of ageing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Associations of area deprivation over the life course and physical capability in mid-life: findings from the 1946 British Birth Cohort |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Body size and physical capability. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Can we intervene to promote capability and wellbeing? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | HALCyon symposium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Can we intervene to promote capability and wellbeing? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Case based and variable based approaches to understanding healthy ageing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at University of Southampton, 14th June 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Census and Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Murray ET. Map of the average time in which cohort members could balance with eyes closed at age 53 years, based on the percent of people in the local government area that worked in low social class occupations when they were 4 years old. Exhibit piece at the British Library's 'Census and Society: Why Everyone Counts', 7th March - 29th May, 2011. http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html. Map of the average time in which cohort members could balance with eyes closed at age 53 years, based on the percent of people in the local government area that worked in low social class occupations when they were 4 years old. Exhibit piece at the British Library's 'Census and Society: Why Everyone Counts', 7th March - 29th May, 2011. http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html. Map of the average time in which cohort members could balance with eyes closed at age 53 years, based on the percent of people in the local government area that worked in low social class occupations when they were 4 years old. Exhibit piece at the Britis |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html |
| Description | Challenges in examining area effects across the life course on physical capability in mid-life : findings from the 1946 British birth cohort |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at International Medical Geography Symposium, Durham, 10th-15th July, 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Challenges in examining area effects across the life course on physical capability in mid-life: findings from the 1946 British Birth Cohort |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Class Reproduction, Cognitive Selection, and Educational Advantage over the Life Course: Does selection or causation explain inequality in late life cognition? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Class reproduction, cognitive selection, and educational advantage in HALCyon cohorts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Class reproduction, cognitive selection, and educational advantage over the life course : does selection or causation explain inequality in late life cognition? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on Class Reproduction, Cognitive Selection, and Educational Advantage over the Life Course: Does selection or causation explain inequality in late life cognition? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Clouston, S. Education and Cognition in IALSA: Findings from 3 birth cohorts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Cognition and Education: A counterfactual solution to an age-old problem. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Cognition and education : a counterfactual solution to an age-old problem |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at Society for Multivariate Experimental Psychology, Norman, OK, USA. 11th-13th October, 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Cognitive capability and the life course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | HALCyon Symposium |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Dementia UK blog post about special debate on how dementia and delirium should be approached in acute hospital settings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Blog post was written about a debate which a LHA clinician took part in to raise awareness of dementia and delirium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Dietary assessment in multi-cohort projects |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, 10th June 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Examples of data harmonisation and cross-cohort work with discussion of the challenges and implications for analysis within and across cohorts. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Exhibit piece - map of the average time in which cohort members could balance with eyes closed at age 53 years |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Map of the average time in which cohort members could balance with eyes closed at age 53 years, based on the percent of people in the local government area that worked in low social class occupations when they were 4 years old. Exhibit piece at the British Library's 'Census and Society: Why Everyone Counts' Exhibit piece at the British Library's 'Census and Society: Why Everyone Counts' http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html. Exhibit piece at the British Library's 'Census and Society: Why Everyone Counts' http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/census/census.html |
| Description | HALCYon Project Summary Brochure |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A plain english brochure was created which summarised the main findings from the HALCyon research programme. It has been disseminated to study members, on our website and the New Dynamics of Ageing website and at conferences. Increased awareness of the findings from the HALCyon programme and the cohorts that were used within this research programme |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | HALCYon book launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A book launch was arranged to promote the findings from the HALCyon research programme Shared knowledge of the HALCyon findings which were published in a book 'A life course approach to healthy ageing'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | HALCyon Symposium at Oxford Ageing Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | HALCyon Symposium at Oxford Ageing Conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| Description | HALCyon: Healthy Ageing across the Life Course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Health Development Forum Showcase and networking event |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Health Ageing across the Life Course: Findings from the HALCyon collaborative research programme. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at Centre Day: International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health. London, January 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Health ageing across the life course : findings from the HALCyon collaborative research programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Centre Day: International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | How good is blood cell telomere length as a biomarker of ageing? Berzelius Symposium Telomere length in health and disease |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | invited presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal-axis dysregulation over twenty years predicts physical performance in the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | South West Scientic Public Health Conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Inequalities in life course cognition: Class reproduction, cognitive selection and education. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Inter-cohort collaborations of life course studies: The HALCyon Collaborative Research Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Inter-cohort collaborations of life course studies: The HALCyon Collaborative Research Programme |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | International Innovation Article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Health professionals |
| Results and Impact | Programme Leader and Programme Leader track were interviewed about the NSHD, the need for life course data to be used in healthy ageing research and physical capability Increased awareness of the NSHD, the MRC Unit for Life course Health and Ageing and the need to use life course research in healthy ageing research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Introduction to the HALCyon collaborative research programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Life course area socioeconomics and physical capability: the 1946 Birth Cohort (updated to include all years). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Life course determinants of physical capability |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Major fruits as a common marker in cross-cohort analysis using dietary data acquired through different instruments |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | International Congress of Nutrition |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Measurement: Cognitive and physical declines. Innovative approaches to methodological challenges facing ageing cohort studies: The methodological challenges of cognitive ageing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Workshop 1: The Methodological Challenges of Cognitive Ageing |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | |
| Description | NDA findings brochure |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The New Dynamics of Ageing programme which funded the HALCyon programme created a findings document summerising the results of the HALCyon programme which was distributed to their local networks Increased awareness of the HALCyon findings and a life course approach to healthy ageing. Increased awareness of longitudinal studies and the cohorts that were involved in HALCyon |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Overview: UK Longitudinal Studies and Ageing Cohorts and the HALCyon model. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Physical capability and subsequent mortality : a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Background: Evidence suggests that measures of physical capability may be predictive of subsequent disability, health and mortality, but the results from existing published studies have not been synthesised. Objectives: To review published literature examining the associations between physical capability and subsequent all-cause mortality. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Sources: Medline (from 1950 to 2008/05), EMBASE (from 1980 to 2008/02) and manual searches of the reference lists of eligible papers. Included Studies: Any study examining the association between at least one of the specified measures of physical capability (grip strength, chair rises, standing balance, walking speed/time) and mortality in a population who were healthy and community-dwelling at baseline. Results: Of 2240 unique records screened, 20 papers met the inclusion criteria of the review. An additional 3 papers were identified from reference lists. Within the 23 papers, there were 17 published analyses of grip strength, 9 of walking time/speed, 2 of standing balance and 1 of chair rises. The mean age of participants ranged from 36 to 80 y but the majority of study populations were aged 60 y and above. Of the papers investigating the association between grip strength and mortality, 6 presented Hazard Ratios for a unit change in grip strength with basic adjustments (total n?=?10?171, deaths?=?4267). The pooled Hazard Ratio for mortality per 5 kg increase in grip strength, from a random effects meta-analysis, was 0.90 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.93). Heterogeneity between studies (I2?=?65.2%) was largely explained by a single study which had weaker results. The pooled HR when this study was removed was 0.89 (0.86 to 0.92) (I2?=?25.7%). Other papers, where comparisons between categories of grip strength had been performed, also generally found weaker grip strength to be associated with higher rates of mortality but these analyses were too heterogeneous to be combined using meta-analysis. Due to differences in the ways in which walking speed had been measured and analysed it was not possible to perform meta-analyses of these data, but the results from all 9 studies showed that slower walking speed/longer walking time was significantly associated with increased mortality risk. Conclusions: This review demonstrates that grip strength and walking time/speed are useful markers of subsequent mortality risk in community-dwelling populations. The underlying explanations of these associations needs to be elucidated and further research is necessary to assess whether other measures of physical capability, including chair rises and balance, have similar predictive value. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.096727p |
| Description | Physical capability and subsequent mortality : a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Background: Evidence suggests that measures of physical capability may be predictive of subsequent disability, health and mortality, but the results from existing published studies have not been synthesised. Objectives: To review published literature examining the associations between physical capability and subsequent all-cause mortality. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Sources: Medline (from 1950 to 2008/05), EMBASE (from 1980 to 2008/02) and manual searches of the reference lists of eligible papers. Included Studies: Any study examining the association between at least one of the specified measures of physical capability (grip strength, chair rises, standing balance, walking speed/time) and mortality in a population who were healthy and community-dwelling at baseline. Results: Of 2240 unique records screened, 20 papers met the inclusion criteria of the review. An additional 3 papers were identified from reference lists. Within the 23 papers, there were 17 published analyses of grip strength, 9 of walking time/speed, 2 of standing balance and 1 of chair rises. The mean age of participants ranged from 36 to 80 y but the majority of study populations were aged 60 y and above. Of the papers investigating the association between grip strength and mortality, 6 presented Hazard Ratios for a unit change in grip strength with basic adjustments (total n?=?10?171, deaths?=?4267). The pooled Hazard Ratio for mortality per 5 kg increase in grip strength, from a random effects meta-analysis, was 0.90 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.93). Heterogeneity between studies (I2?=?65.2%) was largely explained by a single study which had weaker results. The pooled HR when this study was removed was 0.89 (0.86 to 0.92) (I2?=?25.7%). Other papers, where comparisons between categories of grip strength had been performed, also generally found weaker grip strength to be associated with higher rates of mortality but these analyses were too heterogeneous to be combined using meta-analysis. Due to differences in the ways in which walking speed had been measured and analysed it was not possible to perform meta-analyses of these data, but the results from all 9 studies showed that slower walking speed/longer walking time was significantly associated with increased mortality risk. Conclusions: This review demonstrates that grip strength and walking time/speed are useful markers of subsequent mortality risk in community-dwelling populations. The underlying explanations of these associations needs to be elucidated and further research is necessary to assess whether other measures of physical capability, including chair rises and balance, have similar predictive value. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.096727p |
| Description | Physical capability and subsequent well-being: Findings from five British cohorts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Physical capability in HALCyon: existing work and future plans |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Physical function and subsequent health |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Presentation at Nutrition Society Summer Meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Life course approach to understanding the determinants of human ageing. Nutrition Society Summer Meeting, Newcastle, 15th-18th July 2013 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Presentations at Integrative Analysis of Longitudinal Studies of Aging Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentations at conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Retirement and cognition:selective relationships and causal declines |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Retirement and cognition:selective relationships and causal declines |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Selection and causation in an inter-cohort comparative context: considering the role of childhood cognition in educational propensity. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Selection and causation: the educational benefit to cognition in later life |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Testosterone, Cortisol:Testosterone ratio and physical performance in later life: Results from the Caerphilly Prospective Study (CaPS). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | The HALCyon programme. A life course approach to healthy ageing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | The HALCyon programme. A life course approach to healthy ageing. European Consensus Workshop on Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany 22nd November 2012. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | The HALCyon programme. A life course approach to healthy ageing. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at conference |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | The implications of adolescent cognition to social inequalities in health: Educational benefits in health and the role of adolescent cognition in determining the propensity for educational attainment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Talk at Institute of Education |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | The implications of educational benefits and the propensity for educational attainment in health research. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | The life-course perspective in promoting health in ageing. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | The life-course perspective in promoting health in aging |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Plenary lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine and New York Academy of Medicine Symposium: Promoting health in aging. New York, USA, 26th-27th September 2011. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | ter-cohort collaborations of life course studies: The HALCyon Collaborative Research Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Primary Audience | |
| Results and Impact | Presentation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |