Strengths
- Using a comprehensive and multifaceted strategy to identify all ageing cohorts across the globe;
- Reliance on multiple sources to collect relevant information for each cohort,
- Inclusion of numbers of indicators for each intrinsic capacity domain as well as some measures of health characteristics (e.g., diseases, disability, and injuries).
Limitations
- To find ageing cohorts, we search various resources, including Online cohort directories and repositories, publications and consortium papers containing systematic reviews and harmonized cohort studies, and keyword searches on electronic journal databases, including the Epidemiology journals, which publish “cohort profile”. Despite having multiple strategies to identify relevant cohort studies, it is possible that not all eligible cohorts were identified. To address this issue, principal investigators of relevant ageing studies that we missed including in the Toolkit will be able to contact us and provide information, which will then be added to the Toolkit database.
- Data gathered on characteristics, demographic, socioeconomic, social and environmental, and intrinsic capacity measures were mainly based on information provided in cohort studies websites and published cohort profiles. Overall, we found gathering detailed information on variables measured in the cohort studies challenging mainly due to lack of information supplied on available data collection and limited access to study questionnaires. Through the Toolkit webpage, we welcome principal investigators to contact us and provide additional information related to their measurements.