The Normative Aging Study: An Interdisciplinary and Longitudinal Study of Health and Aging

Abstract

The Normative Aging Study is a comprehensive interdisciplinary longitudinal study located in the VA Outpatient Clinic in Boston, Mass. The study was inaugurated in 1963 by the VA because of its statutory responsibility for the medical care of 25 million war veterans of whom 2 million are now 65 years of age and over, a figure which will rise to over 7 million in the next 20 years. Approximately 2,000 male veterans are enrolled for their lifetime as research subjects and undergo recurrent examinations administered on an outpatient basis. The focus of the study is on non-pathological aging, so that the subjects were carefully screened in advance to satisfy rigid health criteria regardless of age. The study is distinctive because of its large N and the socioeconomic diversity of its population. Parameters include clinical medicine, biochemistry, special senses, oral medicine, anthropometry and behavior. The study is designed to investigate the relationship between normal aging and the natural history of chronic diseases. The investigation of environmental correlates of age change throughout the logitudinal design will also suggest the intrinsic or extrinsic nature of the aging process. The hybrid cross-sectional-longitudinal design will also enable the partialing of secular from true aging effects. Functional ages pertaining to various aspects of aging are being developed as a tool for assessing relative aging rates and the relationship among such differences in aging.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Administrator of Veterans Affairs. Annual Report, 1970. Washington, D. C. 1971.

Bell

Rose

C. L.

, and Damon

The Veterans Administration longitudinal study of healthy aging. The Gerontologist, 1966, 6, 179–184.

Busse

E. W.

Longitudinal research–the “Duke Study”. Proc. 7th Int. Congress of Gerontology, vol. 1. Vienna: Viennese Medical Academy, 1966, pp. 283–288.

Comfort

Test battery to measure aging rate in man. Lancet, no. 7635 p. 1411, Vol. II, 1969.

Coppinger

N. W.

The psychological aspects of aging: A prospectus for research in the Veterans Administration, The Gerontologist, 1967, 7, (2), Part II, p. 1.

Damon

, and Stoudt

H. W.

Functional anthropometry of old men. Human Factors, 1963, 5, 485–491.

Damon

Stoudt

H. W.

, & McFarland

R. A.

The human body in equipment design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1966.

Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease Methodology. Am. J. Public Health, 1960, 50 (Suppl.) 23.

Fitzpatrick

T. B.

Age changes in hair and pigmentation. Advances in Biology of Skin, vol. 6, Aging. New York: Pergamon Press, 1965.

10.

Fozard

J. L.

, and Nuttall

R. L.

Effects of age and socioeconomic status differences on the Sixten Personality Factor Questionnaire scores. Proc. 79th Annual Meeting of Am. Psychol. Assn., 1971, 597–598.

11.

Harrison

R. E.

Wolf

, and Bell

Ocular studies with special reference to glaucoma in a group of 107 elderly males. Am. J. Ophthalmology, 1963, 57, 235–240.

12.

Leslie

G. P.

, and Richardson

Life-cycle, career pattern, and decision to move. Am. Sociological Review, 1961, 26, 894.

13.

Looney

J. M.

, and Cummins

J. F.

The blood lipids in Spanish American War Veterans, in Blumenthal

H. T.

Medical and clinical aspects of aging. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1962. Medical Research in the V.A., July 1, 1969 to June 30, 1970. House Committee Print No. 2, Part I, Washington, D. C. 1971.

14.

Melrose

Welsh

O. L.

, and Luterman

I. M.

Auditory responses in selected elderly men., J Gerontology, 1963, 18, 267–270.

15.

Nathan

D. G.

Piomelli

Cummins

J. F.

Gardner

F. H.

, and Limauro

A. L.

The effect of androgens on some aspects of body composition and erythroporesis in octogenarian males. Annals N. Y. Acad, of Science, 1963, 110, 965–977.

16.

Neurath

, and Bell

Chromosome loss compared with chromosome size, age, and sex of subjects. Nature, 1970, 225, 261–262.

17.

Norman

J. R.

Schweppe

, and Knowles

J. H.

Lung volumes and aging. J. Am. Geriatric Soc, 1964, 12, 38–49.

18.

Nuttall

R. L.

, and Fozard

J. L.

Age, socioeconomic status and human abilities. Aging and Human Development, 1970, 1, 161–169.

19.

Piomelli

Nathan

D. G.

Cummins

J. F.

, and Gardner

F. H.

Red cell volume and body composition in aged men. In Biological Aspects of Aging Proc. 5th Int. Congress of Gerontology. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1963.

20.

Rose

C. L.

Social factors in longevity. Gerontologist, 1964, 4, 27–37.

21.

Rose

C. L.

, and Bell

Selection of geographically stable subjects in longitudinal studies of aging. J. American Geriatric Society, 1965, 12, 143–151.

22.

Rose

C. L.

, and Bell

Predicting longevity–methodology and critique. Lexington, Mass.: D. C. Heath, 1971.

23.

Rossi

Why families move. A study in the social psychology of urban residential mobility. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1955.

24.

Schaie

K. W.

A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychol. Bulletin, 1965, 64, 92–107.

25.

Shock

N. H.

The physiology of aging. Scientific American, 1962, 200, 100–110.

26.

Szafran

Age differences in rate of gain of information, signal detection strategy, and cardiovascular status among pilots. Gerontologia, 1966, 12, 6.