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Overview

The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS; NIA U01AG009740) surveys more than 20,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years. Since its launch in 1992, the study has collected information about income, work, assets, pension plans, health insurance, disability, physical health and functioning, cognitive functioning, and health care expenditures.

Data Collection

The HRS is a longitudinal survey of adults aged 50 and older that began in 1992. The original HRS sample consisted of 12,652 individuals born between 1931 and 1941. The HRS was merged with the Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) study in 1998, with the Children of Depression and War Baby cohorts in 1998; and Early Baby Boomer cohort in 2004. New cohorts are added every six years. The HRS observational unit is an eligible household financial unit (uncoupled individuals and couples) that must include at least one age-eligible member. Interviews are conducted by telephone or in-person. Beginning in 2012, HRS began adding genetic information from consenting participants to its database.

Biomarkers

HRS began biomarker collection in 2006 during face-to-face interviews conducted in a random half of the sample. They were collected from the other half of the sample in 2008. In 2010 and 2014 the first half of the sample were asked to provide biomarker data for a second and third time and in 2012 and 2016 the second half of the sample provided repeated biomarker data. Venous blood samples were collected for the first time in 2016 and a large number of assays performed (Crimmins, Faul, Kim & Weir, 2017). A detailed description of 2016 VBS measures are below.

HRS 2016 VBS
N Mean SD Min Max
White Blood Cell Count 8880 6.75 3.41 1.60 209.00
Red Blood Cell Count 8895 4.47 0.52 2.08 7.16
Hemoglobin 8897 13.50 1.55 5.20 21.10
Hematocrit 8892 41.33 4.36 19.30 58.50
Mean Corpuscular Volume 8892 92.92 6.37 59.00 126.00
Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin 8874 30.33 2.14 20.00 39.50
Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration 8806 32.70 1.23 29.00 37.50
Red Cell Distribution Width 8894 14.05 1.47 10.90 39.30
Platelet Count 8881 230.47 65.63 8.00 916.00
Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) 8783 11.25 1.01 8.10 15.20
Platelet Distribution Width (PDW) 8780 13.93 2.40 8.30 25.50
% Neutrophils 8876 57.61 9.85 0.00 100.00
% Lymphocytes 8877 29.82 9.25 3.80 98.00
% Monocytes 8877 8.53 2.42 0.00 43.50
% Eosinophils 8877 3.20 2.20 0.00 33.70
% Basophils 8876 0.87 0.62 0.00 10.60
Neutrophil Count 8876 3.92 1.53 0.00 22.80
Lymphocyte Count 8877 2.01 2.84 0.40 201.10
Monocyte Count 8877 0.56 0.23 0.00 8.50
Eosinophil Count 8877 0.21 0.17 0.00 4.90
Basophil Count 8876 0.05 0.06 0.00 1.00
Alanine Aminotransferase 9098 20.35 13.36 3.00 313.00
Albumin 9110 3.93 0.33 2.20 5.50
Alkaline phosphatase 9106 82.95 36.08 20.00 1908.00
Aspartate Aminotransferase 9030 22.20 11.47 6.00 283.00
Bilirubin,Total 9095 0.46 0.25 0.10 3.30
Urea Nitrogen (BUN) 9110 18.07 7.31 3.00 99.00
Calcium 9098 9.32 0.41 3.20 11.50
LDL-Cholesterol, Calculated 8926 101.51 35.45 5.00 325.00
Chloride 9109 100.89 3.20 82.00 114.00
Cholesterol, Total 9109 187.58 42.15 55.00 542.00
Bicarbonate (CO2) 9095 24.12 2.61 15.00 43.00
Creatinine 9119 0.97 0.57 0.28 14.10
C-Reactive Protein (high sensitivity) 9107 4.92 11.08 0.21 362.70
Cystatin C 9109 1.20 0.56 0.36 9.22
Ferritin 9104 149.33 194.54 5.00 8231.00
Glucose, Fasting 9075 112.08 43.69 26.00 574.00
GLYHB
HDL-Cholesterol, Direct-Measure 9110 57.30 19.13 11.00 187.00
Potassium 9090 4.20 0.43 2.40 8.80
Sodium 9109 139.47 2.88 117.00 156.00
Protein, Total 9110 6.89 0.47 4.70 10.10
Triglycerides 9109 146.42 94.17 30.00 1754.00
CMV IgG 9107 339.03 436.02 0.10 22801.00
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEAS) 9085 2.21 1.73 0.01 18.17
B-type natriuretic peptide, N-terminal pro (NT-proBNP) 8958 356.90 1372.39 5.00 69730.00

User Guides

http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/index.php?p=userg&jumpfrom=PP

2016 Venous Blood Sample Protocol

https://hrs.isr.umich.edu/sites/default/files/biblio/2016%20VBS%20data%20ver%207_2.pdf

Publications

https://hrs.isr.umich.edu/publications/biblio/