Individual Study / ELSA

The information for Wave 0 were taken from the Health Survey for England (HSE). The HSE interviews for 1998, 1999 and 2001 comprised a personal face-to-face CAPI interview, a nurse visit and a self-completion questionnaire. Data collected include information on housing/accommodation, education, employment, income, food and drink consumption (including consumption of fruit and vegetables), smoking, physical activity, biomedical measurements (such as blood pressure), cardiovascular disease (and associated risk factors) and health of ethnic minority groups.

Face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. Data collected include information on respondent health, social participation, current work activities or past pensions, income and assets, housing situation, individual household and basic demographic information about everyone living in the household. Respondent's expectations, cognitive functions, psychosocial health and walking speed were measured. Participants were also asked to fill a consent to obtain health and economic data from administrative sources. The data collection was carried out on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1, 2002.

Face-to-face interview, self-completion questionnaire and nurse home visit. The administered questionnaire was similar to that used in previous waves. Some measures were repeated exactly like before, participant's were asked directly to provide change for some variable and questions were adapted to allow people to update or amend past responses. The new items included quality of healthcare received, household spending on leisure, clothing and transfers, perception of deprivation relative to others, perceptions of ageing, levels of literacy, perceived effort and reward for care-giving and voluntary activities. Respondent's expectations, cognitive functions, psychosocial health and walking speed were measured. Participants were also asked to fill a consent to obtain health and economic data from administrative sources. Also, blood pressure, lung function, blood tests, anthropometric measures and physical performance measures were done during a nurse visit at the participant’s home. The data collection was carried out on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1, 2002.

Face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. The administered questionnaire was similar to that used in previous waves. The new items included information on dental health, consumption of fruit and vegetables, receipt of state pension statements, expectation of living to 85 years and anchoring vignettes. ELSA respondents who had a main interview were asked to have a separate life history interview which collected information about respondent's employment, partners, children and the residences they lived in from their birth up until the present day. Respondent's expectations, cognitive functions, psychosocial health and walking speed were measured. Participants were also asked to fill a consent to obtain health and economic data from administrative sources. The data collection was made on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1th, 2002. A refreshment sample of HRS 2001/02/03/04 surveys participants aged 50-52 on March 1th, 2006 were added to the survey.

Face-to-face interview, self-completion questionnaire and nurse home visit. The administered questionnaire was similar to that used in previous waves. The new items included questions on sleep patterns, women's health, working beyond the state pension age and state pension deferral, adaptations to accommodation to assist mobility, monetary gifts and transfers, frequency of carrying out formal and informal volunteering and questions on use of respite services for those who provide care. Respondent's expectations, cognitive functions, psychosocial health and walking speed were measured. Participants were also asked to fill a consent to obtain health and economic data from administrative sources. Also, blood pressure, lung function, blood tests, anthropometric measures and physical performance measures were done during a nurse visit at the participant’s home. The data collection was made on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1th, 2002. A refreshment sample of survey participants aged 50-74 years on March 1th, 2006 were added to the study.

Face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaire administered was similar to that used in previous waves. The new items included questions on the use of cancer screening services. In this wave, a new module of questions to measure financial risk-taking was introduced. These questions were asked of a subsample of pre-selected respondents and administered either as Computer-Aided Self-Interview (CASI) or as a Computer-Aided Personal Interview (CAPI). The data collection was made on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1th, 2002.

Face-to-face interview, self-completion questionnaire and nurse home visit. The questionnaire administered was similar to that used in previous waves. The new items included questions about social care, sexual relationships, well-being and the problem solving tasks were modified. Blood pressure test, lung function, blood tests, anthropometric measures and physical performance measures were carried out during the nurse visit at the participant's home. The data collection was made on the original sample interviewed in Health Survey for England (HSE) 1998/1999/2001 aged 50 and older on March 1th, 2002. A refreshment sample of HRS 2009/10/11 surveys participants aged 50-55 on March 1th, 2012 were added to the survey.

Face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. Data collected include information on respondent health, social participation, current work activities or past pensions, income and assets, housing situation, individual household and basic demographic information about everyone living in the household. Respondent's expectations, cognitive functions, psychosocial health and walking speed were measured. Participants were also asked to fill a consent to obtain health and economic data from administrative sources. A refreshment sample of survey participants aged 50-51 years on March 1th, 2014 were added to the survey.