title: Suitability of public use secondary data sets to study multiple activities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to inventory activity items within and across U.S. public use data sets, to identify gaps in represented activity domains and challenges in interpreting domains, and to assess the potential for studying multiple activity engagement among older adults using existing data.
  
  
  METHODS
  We engaged in content analysis of activity measures of 5U.S. public use data sets with nationally representative samples of older adults. Data sets included the Health & Retirement Survey (HRS), Americans' Changing Lives Survey (ACL), Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics survey (PSID). Two waves of each data set were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 13 distinct activity domains across the 5 data sets, with substantial differences in representation of those domains among the data sets, and variance in the number and type of activity measures included in each.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicate that although it is possible to study multiple activity engagement within existing data sets, fuller sets of activity measures need to be developed in order to evaluate the portfolio of activities older adults engage in and the relationship of these portfolios to health and wellness outcomes. Importantly, clearer conceptual models of activity broadly conceived are required to guide this work.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts. michelle.putnam@simmons.edu.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Putnam
authors.affiliation: Brown School of Social Work and Center for Aging, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morrow-Howell
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Greenfield
authors.affiliation: Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Huajuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Welfare, University of Incheon, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: YungSoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009309:National Center for Health Statistics, U.S.; D012179:Retirement; D014481:United States
keywords: Activity; Content analysis; Measurement; Secondary data sets
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