The projects proposed in this grant study diverse populations, but have a common set of goals and research hypotheses. In addition, they each utilize similar study designs-2-armed randomized clinical trial-and share, in the main, a common set of variables to be measured to achieve these goals. A common set of analytic problems are faced by this grant- innovative statistical methods for the study of longitudinal data can be applied to the data sets, complex analyses of the psychometric properties of the measures to be utilized will be necessary, and the data lend themselves to causal and multivariate modeling. From an analysis point of view, the similarity of analytic problems faced by the researchers because of design and variables make a centralized facility with common personnel and equipment beneficial - the lessons learned in one project can be carried over to others, differences and commonalities across projects can be compared easily, and duplication of efforts is minimized. In addition, a centralized analysis core allows for a level of equipment and personnel not available to individual researchers and projects. The purpose of this core is to provide equipment, personnel and statistical expertise to address the analytic problems contained in this body of research. Several levels of assistance are to be provided - assistance with data entry and data management, provision of hardware and software for analysis, routine and complex statistical analysis of the resulting data, and advancement of statistical/methodological knowledge in the study of the effects of axial dysmobility. To achieve these goals, the hardware/software of the Center for Aging Computer and Statistics Lab with be coupled with a health economist and statistician who will direct the activities of a data entry person, a systems analyst, and a research analyst.
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