title: Health and aging: development of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing health assessment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assist researchers planning studies similar to The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), concerning the development of the health assessment component, to promote use of the archived data set, to inform researchers of the methods employed, and to complement the accompanying article on normative values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, longitudinal study of older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Republic of Ireland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight thousand five hundred four community-dwelling adults who participated in wave 1 of the TILDA study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main areas of focus for the TILDA health assessments are neurocardiovascular instability, locomotion, and vision.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The article describes the scientific rationale for the choice of assessments and seeks to determine the potential advantages of incorporating novel biomeasures and technologies in population-based studies to advance understanding of aging-related disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The detailed description of the physical measures will facilitate cross-national comparative research and put into context the normative values outlined in the subsequent article.
authors.affiliation: The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. croninhi@tcd.ie
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cronin
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Regan
authors.forename: Ciaran
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Finucane
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.forename: Rose Anne
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kenny
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity