Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health
The Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) is run by the World Health Organization's Statistics, Measurement and Analysis unit. An objective for SAGE is to compile comprehensive longitudinal data on the health and well-being of adult populations and the ageing process across different countries, through primary data collection and secondary data analysis.
SAGE baseline data (Wave 0, 2002–04) was collected as part of WHO's World Health Survey (WHS). A second round of data collection (Wave 1, 2007–10) is completed, expanding the sample sizes in each participating country (China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation and South Africa). Wave 2 (2015) data collection will be completed in 2015 in all six countries. Wave 2 is planned for 2016.
SAGE Wave 0 (2002/04)
A baseline cohort for the six participating countries was created as part of the larger World Health Survey effort and contains data on the situation of 65,964 adults aged 18 years and older, including over 20,000 persons aged 50 years and older. Samples of these respondents were followed-up as a part of SAGE Wave 1 (2007–10) data collection in four of the six SAGE countries (Ghana, India, Mexico and the Russian Federation). Meta- and micro-data are in the public domain through WHO at http://apps.who.int/healthinfo/systems/surveydata/index.php/catalog/whs.
SAGE Wave 1 (2007/10)
Weighted data for China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russian Federation and South Africa are in the public domain (see Study on global AGEing and Adult Health). SAGE's first full round of data collection included both follow-up and new respondents in four participating countries. The goal of the sampling design was to obtain a nationally representative cohort of persons aged 50 years and older, with a smaller cohort of persons aged 18 to 49 for comparison purposes. The target sample size was 5000 households with at least one person aged 50+ years and 1000 households with an 18- to 49-year-old respondent. In the older households, all persons aged 50+ years (for example, spouses and siblings) were invited to participate. Proxy respondents were identified for respondents who were unable to respond for themselves. The pooled data set will include over 43,000 respondents (see table below).
Modules in SAGE W1 Questionnaires |
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Data collected, Wave 1
Standardized SAGE survey instruments were used in all countries consisting of five main parts: 1) household questionnaire; 2) individual questionnaire; 3) proxy questionnaire; 4) verbal autopsy questionnaire; and, 5) appendices including showcards. A question by question guide (Survey Manual) is available. A VAQ was completed for deaths in the household over the last 24 months. The procedures for including country-specific adaptations to the standardized questionnaire and translations into local languages from English follow those developed by and used for the World Health Survey.
Country | World Bank
economic category (2007) |
Sample Size |
---|---|---|
China | Lower-Middle | 14785 |
Ghana | Low | 5573 |
India | Low | 12198 |
Mexico | Upper-Middle | 2734 |
Russian Federation | Upper-Middle | 4947 |
South Africa | Upper-Middle | 4227 |
Descriptive results from SAGE Wave 1 are available through a US Census Bureau/WHO report Shades of Gray: A Cross-Country Study of Health and Well-Being of the Older Populations in SAGE Countries, 2007-2010.
Background information on SAGE is also available through:
Kowal P, Chatterji S, Naidoo N, Biritwum R, Wu Fan, Lopez Ridaura R, Maximova T, Arokiasamy P, Phaswana-Mafuya N, Peltzer K, Williams S, Snodgrass JJ, Minicuci N, D'Este C, Boerma JT and the SAGE Collaborators. Data Resource Profile: The WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). Int J Epidemiol. 2012;41(6):1639-49.
SAGE Wave 2 (2015)
Data collection for SAGE Wave 2 was completed in 2015 in all SAGE countries, except the Russian Federation, who are planning to complete implementation by the first quarter of 2016.
Links to other studies
SAGE adapted methods and instruments used by the WHS and/or from 16 surveys on ageing (including the US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) and the UK English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to collect household data on persons aged 50 years and older in over 20 countries, as well as fostering links to other data collection efforts such as the Study on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the Chinese Health and Retirement Survey (CHARLs), the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI).
SAGE-like surveys have been conducted as the World Health Survey Plus (WHS+) in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (plus Yemen), as a short version of SAGE in eight demographic surveillance fieldsites INDEPTH; as a full SAGE in three INDEPTH fieldsites; and, as COURAGE in Europe in three European countries.
SAGE-INDEPTH
Data for the summary SAGE module added to INDEPTH census rounds in 2007 and 2008 is available through WHO SAGE and INDEPTH. These data include the SAGE health state descriptions, WHO Disability Assessment Schedule version 2 (WHODAS-II) and the WHO Quality of Life (WHOQoL) 8-item version as measures of health and subjective well-being, linked to selected sociodemographic data from the demographic surveillance fieldsites in eight countries (Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Viet Nam). The sample size is over 46,000 respondents. First results are published as 'Growing Older in Africa and Asia: Multicentre study on ageing, health and well-being' in the peer-reviewed open-access journal, Global Health Action.
Country (DSS Fieldsite) | World Bank
economic category |
Sample Size |
---|---|---|
Bangladesh (Matlab) | Low | 4037 |
Ghana (Navrongo) | Lower-Middle | 4584 |
India (Vadu) | Lower-Middle | 5430 |
Indonesia (Purworejo) | Lower-Middle | 12395 |
Kenya (Nairobi) | Low | 2072 |
South Africa (Agincourt) | Upper-Middle | 4085 |
Tanzania (Ifakara) | Low | 5131 |
Viet Nam (Filabavi) | Lower-Middle | 8535 |
SAGE-WOPS (HIV study)
Two waves of the SAGE Well-being of Older People Study (WOPS) HIV study has been conducted in two countries, South Africa and Uganda, with the goal of providing data on the effects of HIV/AIDS among older people infected or affected by HIV. The aim of this study was to describe the health status, well being and functional status among older people either infected with HIV themselves, or affected by HIV/AIDS in their families. The impacts of caregiving and ART were also examined. Wave 1 was completed in 2010/11 and Wave 2 was completed in 2013. Wave 3 is planned for 2015, and Wave 4 in 2017. Two initial papers from Wave 1 results are below.
Direction
The WHO's Statistics, Measurement and Analysis unit runs SAGE and is headed by Dr Somnath Chatterji. The unit is under the direction of Dr Ties Boerma in the Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems. Dr Chatterji is SAGE Principal Investigator, Dr Paul Kowal is co-Principal Investigator, Ms Nirmala Naidoo is the lead statistician, with regular contributions from other members of the WHO SMA unit. Survey teams in each participating country lead the data capture efforts, from data collection to dissemination, and contribute to analysis and manuscript preparation.
Wave 1 country Primary Investigators: Dr Wu Fan, Shanghai CDC, China; Prof Richard Biritwum, University of Ghana, Ghana; Prof Perianayagam Arokiasamy, IIPS, India; Ms Rosalba Roja, Dr Ruy Lopez Ridaura, Dr Mara Tellez Rojo, INSP, Mexico; Dr Tamara Maximova, RAMS, Russian Federation; and, Dr Refilwe Nancy Phaswana-Mafuya and Dr Karl Peltzer, HSRC, South Africa.
Wave 2 country Primary Investigators: Dr Wu Fan, Shanghai CDC, China; Prof Richard Biritwum and Dr Alfred Yawson, University of Ghana, Ghana; Prof Perianayagam Arokiasamy, IIPS, India; Mr Aaron Salinas Rodriguez and Ms Betty Soledad Manrique Espinoza, INSP, Mexico; Dr Tamara Maximova and Dr Vitaly Belov, RAMS, Russian Federation; and, Dr Stephen Rule, Outsourced Insight, South Africa.
Funding
SAGE and SAGE sub-studies are supported by the World Health Organization and the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA BSR), US National Institutes of Health, through Interagency Agreements (OGHA 04034785; YA1323-08-CN-0020; Y1-AG-1005-01) with WHO and a Research Project Grant R01 AG034479. NIA BSR has facilitated forums for in-depth discussions about study content, design and implementation. The NIA BSR has been instrumental in promoting linkages between longitudinal studies on ageing and adult health around the world.
Governments in three countries, China, Mexico and South Africa, provided financial support for SAGE Wave 1. The University of Ghana provided financial and in-kind support. USAID funding contributed to an oversample of adult women in SAGE India Wave 1.
Wave 3 is planned for 2016/17 with support through NIA Research Project Grant R01 AG034479 and the respective governments in collaborating countries.
The European Commission under Seventh Framework Programme has provided financial support to implement a SAGE-like health status, quality of life and well-being study in Europe under the name "collaborative research on ageing in Europe (COURAGE in Europe)". Finland, Poland and Spain implemented the survey in 2010.
External links
- Study on global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE)
- African Research on Ageing Network (AFRAN)
- Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH)
- Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)
- China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLs)
- Comparisons of Longitudinal European Studies on Ageing (CLESA)
- Costa Rican Study of Longevity and Healthy Aging (CRELES)
- Dynamic Analyses to Optimize Ageing (DYNOPTA)
- English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
- Global Ageing Survey (retirement and financial well-being study)
- US Health and Retirement Survey (HRS)
- INDEPTH (Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems for ageing and adult health research)
- Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR)
- Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA)
- Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI)
- Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS)
- Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS)
- New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement (NZHRS)
- Puerto Rican Elderly: Health Conditions (PREHCO)
- Study on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)
- 10/66 Dementia Research Group
- The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA)
- The Gateway to Global Aging Data