Newcastle 85+ Study

85 plus study logoIn common with other high income countries, the UK is experiencing a marked change in the age structure of its population, characterized by increasing life expectancy and continuing growth in the older fraction of the population.

In May 2006 a multidisciplinary team in the Institute for Ageing and Health at Newcastle University began a major study of health and ageing in the oldest old population (those aged 85 years and older). Funded for five years by the UK Medical Research Council (with a contribution from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) and led by Professor Tom Kirkwood, the Newcastle 85+ Study has recruited a birth cohort of more than one thousand 85 year olds from Newcastle and North Tyneside.

The study aims to:

  1. Assess, in great detail, the spectrum of health in the oldest old.
  2. Examine the associations of health trajectories and outcomes with biological, clinical and social factors as the cohort ages.
  3. Identify factors which contribute to the maintenance of health and independence.
  4. Advance understanding of the biological nature of human ageing.


Participants are visited in their own home by a research nurse to complete a multi-dimensional health assessment comprising questionnaires, measurements, function tests and a fasting blood test; assessments are conducted at baseline, 18 months and 36 months. General practice medical records are reviewed at baseline and 36 months for data on disease, medication and use of general practice services. Participants can decline elements of the protocol. In addition, participants are ‘flagged’ with the NHS Central Register which provides details of the date and cause of death; it is planned to track the cohort until the last survivor has died.

This is a groundbreaking study as little is known about the health and needs of this age group, even though demographically it is the fastest growing in the UK and other high income countries. Teasing out the complex factors contributing to health in old age is a key challenge in planning for the health and care needs of today's and tomorrow's populations, in order to maximise health and quality of life in old age and minimise dependency.

The study is also expected to provide extensive data on the value of multiple molecular and cellular biomarkers in predicting and explaining individual differences in the health of very old people. This increased understanding of the underlying biology of ageing will potentially contribute to new insights into how the ageing process acts as the single largest risk factor for a great number of diseases and for age-related frailty and disability.

Further Information

For further information please contact:

Dr Joanna Collerton,
Principal Clinical Research Fellow,
Biogerontology Research Building,
Institute for Ageing and Health,
Newcastle University,
Campus for Ageing and Vitality,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL.

Tel: 0191 248 1107
Fax: 0191 248 1101

Email: j.c.collerton@ncl.ac.uk

Information on the key study team members can be found here.

Publications:

 

Supplementary Information and Protocols and Questionnaires used in the study:

Further details of the Newcastle 85+ Study protocol can be found in Collerton J, Barrass K, Bond J, Eccles M, Jagger C, James O, et al. The Newcastle 85+ study: biological, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with healthy ageing: study protocol. BMC Geriatrics 2007;7:14.

The questionnaires below are freely available for other researchers to use as part of a study or project; however the Newcastle 85+ Study Management Team kindly request that the Newcastle 85+ Study is acknowledged as the origin of any non-standard questionnaires and documents, using the following citation:
Collerton J, Barrass K, Bond J, Eccles M, Jagger C, James O, Martin-Ruiz C, Robinson L, von Zglinicki T and Kirkwood T., The Newcastle 85+ study: biological, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with healthy ageing: study protocol., BMC Geriatrics 2007, 7(1):14 which is freely available from BMC Geriatrics and linked above.

The Newcastle 85+ Study are happy to consider requests for access to the data sets. Please refer to the following document for more details and the application form: Newcastle 85+ Study Data Sharing Policy

Phase 1 Documents

Phase 2 Documents
Phase 3 Documents

All above are PDF documents

Supplementary PDF documents relating to the paper 'Engaging the Oldest Old in Research: Lessons from the Newcastle 85+ study' can be found below. These are again freely available, but we would ask that appropriate acknowledgment to the 85+ Study Team be given.