More than 1,000 people from the Hamilton and Burlington area have signed on to be part of Canada’s largest study of aging.

In May, the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) welcomed its 1,000th participant at the Hamilton Data Collection Site (DCS), located at McMaster Innovation Park. An additional 172 local residents have taken part through telephone interviews.

Over the next 20 years, the CLSA will follow 50,000 men and women aged 45 to 85 from across Canada. Data collection occurs through telephone interviews, in-home interviews and visits to data collection sites. Of the 50,000 participants, 30,000 individuals visit data collection sites in their local communities to provide in-depth information through physical assessments. The remaining 20,000 participate in telephone interviews.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our participants for their contributions and the time they have volunteered,” said Parminder Raina, lead principal investigator of the CLSA and a professor of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University. “Achieving this milestone would not have been possible without their participation or the commitment of the CLSA research team.”

Over the next two years, an additional 2,000 people from Hamilton and the surrounding area will be recruited into the study.

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Data Collection Site staff completing a participant's physical assessment.