A day at the Data Collection Site
Your visit to the data collection site will last about two and a half hours. Once every three years throughout the 20-year study we will contact you to book at-home interviews and visits to the data collection site.
You will be greeted by a research assistant who will verify your contact information. You will then go through a brief checklist to assess your current medical status. By doing so, this will help us properly administer the tests involved in the study.
Several physical assessments will be taken, including basic body measurements such as height, weight and waist and hip size. A trained technician will take your blood pressure and your heart function will be checked by assessing the thickness of the arteries and testing your heart rate by placing electrodes on your chest, arms and legs. To test your lung capacity you will be required to take a deep breath and blow into a mouth piece. You will then lie on a table and an X-ray beam will scan your body, provide information about your bone density and lean body mass. You will be exposed to a small amount of radiation (equal to a dental X-ray).
One of our CLSA interviewers will administer internationally recognized assessments to test your psychological functioning. These tests require you to count, remember and solve basic problems. A hearing test will follow.
A research assistant will have you walk a short distance, up and down the hall for a series of timed tests. You will then be asked to sit and rise on a chair. These tests are performed to mainly test overall body strength.
In this room you will perform additional strength tests which require you to squeeze a device and stand on one leg. We will check your vision using similar techniques used by an optometrist and measure the pressure in your eye. We will then ask some questions to assess your overall general health.
An additional memory test will be performed followed by some simple questions about your health and disease symptoms. You may feel some questions are personal, but you can always choose not to answer those questions.
If you agree to provide us with blood and urine samples, we will collect about three tablespoons of blood and ask you to provide us with a urine sample. This part of the study is optional.
In the last stage of your visit, we will provide you with a computer print-out of some of the measurements taken as well as reimburse you for parking/travel costs. You may also be asked to complete a short, anonymous questionnaire to provide us with some feedback about your visit.
