The NIA supplements a research project sponsored by the NHLBI and supported through an NHLBI contract with Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, to allow for research on aging and dementia among study participants. The Honolulu Heart Program (HHP) is a prospective study of cardiovascular diseases of American men of Japanese ancestry born from 1900 to 1919 and living on the island of Oahu in 1965. This study will focus on aging, with the emphasis on Alzheimer's disease and multi-infarct dementia. About 3,800 of the approximately 4,600 HHP participants have been contacted thus far, including approximately 3,500 who have received all or almost all of the standard examination and interview. Approximately 20 to 25 minutes of the NHLBI examination is devoted to NIA data collection, including administration of the Cognitive Abilities and Screening Instrument (CASI) and a questionnaire to elicit information concerning possible risk factors for dementia. Approximately 13% of the examined participants were invited back for a follow-up examination. Those invited back include all of the participants who receive low CASI scores, about 33% of those who received borderline scores (74-82, N=176), and 7% of those who received normal (greater than 82, N=165) CASI scores. The purpose of this call- back examination is to carry out a highly standardized dementia evaluation following guidelines previously agreed upon and from which an algorithmic dementia classification can be accomplished with a minimum of subjective interpretation and clinical judgement.
