In late February, the first group of 19 participants visited the Montreal-based data collection site for a pilot study. The purpose of the pilot was to assess and validate the instruments and procedures at the site. The pilot was conducted with French-speaking participants as a follow-up to the English-language pilot study conducted at the McMaster University data collection site in December.

“The pilot has been a wonderful success,” said Christina Wolfson, co-principal investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and a medical scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. “We’ve learned so much and can now fine-tune our procedures in anticipation of the full study rolling out this spring. We very much appreciate the co-operation of our pilot participants and their contribution to the study."

The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) is the largest and most comprehensive study of aging ever undertaken in Canada. Through its innovative design and advanced data collection methods, the study provides a unique opportunity to examine the aging process and the factors that shape healthy aging.

Over the next 20 years, the CLSA will follow a sample of 50,000 women and men aged 45 to 85 years at the time of recruitment. Participants will undergo repeated waves of data collection at three-year intervals. The study collects information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, lifestyle and economic aspects of people’s lives as they age.

During data collection site visits, participants take part in a variety of assessments that examine their physical, emotional and social functioning, as well as the presence of health conditions and diseases. These assessments help CLSA investigators to understand and identify the factors that influence healthy aging.

In addition to data collection site visits, the CLSA is completing in-home interviews with participants. In spring 2011, CLSA investigators launched a pilot study of the in-person interviews in Montreal and Hamilton. A total of 86 participants took part.

Together, the in-home interview and data collection site pilots have provided valuable information used to improve testing procedures and evaluate CLSA questionnaires.

The Montreal pilot ran from February 23 to March 1.