The general aim is to analyze the long-term association of sociodemographic, behavioral and biological factors with transitions from good to morbid or disabled health status, and eventually to death. These associations are studied in the Finnish, Italian and Dutch Cohorts of the Seven Countries Study that have been followed-up with repeated examinations during 30 years from middle-age (40-59 years) to old age (70-89 years). The total study population is 4755 men. Before the 25-year follow-up, the available data consists mainly of cardiovascular risk factors, including diet, results of medical examinations and mortality and morbidity follow-up. At the 25-year follow-up, mental and functional capacities were assessed in Finland and Italy. Examinations at the 30-year follow-up in all three countries include tests of mental capacity, ADL- and IADL-activities, depressive and other symptoms, social network, life satisfaction and objective measures of functional capacity, in addition to the past measurements. The analyses will be conducted both separately for the three countries and using pooled data. The following four main aims correspond also to the main responsibilities of the four countries involved in analyzing collaborative data: 1) Prevalence and determinants of mental and functional capacities at old age (Finland), 2) Diet and disability (The Netherlands), 3) Risk factors and their changes - association with mortality and morbidity (Italy), 4) Application of a multivariate stochastic process model of human ageing and a model for multivariate event history analysis of morbidity and dIsability change (Duke University, USA). The data are collected in five sites in three countries, in very different socio-economic and cultural settings, where common features in ageing and health processes across sites are more likely to be a product of basic physiological mechanisms. Together with the long follow-up with standardized methodology, this is one of the unique streghts of the proposed study.
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