Halfway there: CLSA reaches 25,000 participants
With more than 25,000 participants from coast to coast, the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) has marked another major milestone – reaching the halfway point in its overall recruitment goal of 50,000 participants.
“Reaching 25,000 participants has been a great accomplishment,” said Parminder Raina, lead principal investigator of the CLSA and a professor at McMaster University. “Achieving this major milestone would not have been possible without the commitment of participants who have donated their valuable time to make this study possible and help us improve our understanding of the aging process."
The contributions of 50,000 men and women, aged 45 to 85, over the next 20 years is the driving force behind the CLSA. These individuals support data collection efforts by donating their time for telephone and in-home interviews as well as visits to data collection sites, where they provide additional in-depth information through physical examinations and the collection of blood and urine samples. With 11 data collection sites located at universities and research institutes across Canada, the CLSA collects information on physical, emotional and social health functioning of participants.
“The CLSA holds the potential not only to inform disease and longevity outcomes, but also to contribute to informed decision making with respect to health-care delivery, independent living and autonomy for seniors,” said Susan Kirkland, co-principal investigator of the study and a professor at Dalhousie University. “Twenty-five thousand participants is a huge achievement for the entire CLSA team. This study has the ability of helping many generations to come.”
The CLSA involves a team of more than 160 researchers and collaborators across the country. Funding for the study has been provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, as well as by provincial governments and institutional partners.
“We also thank our outstanding CLSA staff across the country who have dedicated long hours to get the study up and running. To have reached this milestone is a tribute to the hard work of our staff and our fellow researchers,” said Christina Wolfson, co-principal investigator of the CLSA and a professor at McGill University. “None of this would have been possible, of course, without the support of our funders and our CLSA partners.
