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AlzRisk Cohort Detail
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Cohort: Chicago Health and Aging Project
Risk Factors: B Vitamins,
Cognitive Activity,
Nutritional Antioxidants,
Physical Activity

Introduction to the Cohort
The Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP) is a longitudinal study of aging and dementia based in three neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Based on a complete census of these neighborhoods conducted in 1993-1997, investigators recruited 6,158 adults, aged 65 and older, to participate, 3,838 of whom were deemed cognitively intact either by cognitive assessment or clinical evaluation. After the enrollment period, the CHAP pursued a complex strategy for follow-up evaluations, interviewing all participants about every three years and conducting in-depth clinical evaluations among a stratified random sample of participants at each of these cycles. At enrollment, members of the disease-free cohort were 73.6 years old on average (SD=6.1); 60% were female.

Ethnicity Breakdown
At baseline, 60% of the cohort members were African-American, and most of the remaining members were white.

Diagnosis & Evaluation Methods
For a detailed description, see Evans DA et al. 2002.

References
Evans DA, Bennett DA, Wilson RS, Bienias JL, Morris MC, Scherr PA, Hebert LE, Aggarwal N, Beckett LA, Joglekar R, Berry-Kravis E, Schneider J. Incidence of Alzheimer disease in a biracial urban community: relation to apolipoprotein E allele status. Arch Neurol. 2003 Feb;60(2):185-9.

Morris MC, Evans DA, Bienias JL, Tangney CC, Bennett DA, Aggarwal N, Wilson RS, Scherr PA. Dietary intake of antioxidant nutrients and the risk of incident Alzheimer disease in a biracial community study. JAMA. 2002 Jun 26;287(24):3230-7.

Bienias JL, Beckett LA, Bennett DA, Wilson RS, Evans DA. Design of the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP). J Alzheimer Dis. 2003 Oct;5(5):349-55.