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Cohort: East Boston Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly
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Risk Factors:

Introduction to the Cohort
The National Institute of Aging initiated the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) project in 1980 in order to provide prospective, reliable information on the health and well-being of older adults. Specifically, the project aimed to investigate the prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for disease, disability, and mortality; to identify predictors of hospitalization and use of long-term care; and to provide data to understand the changes in functioning associated with aging. Participants ages 65 years and older were recruited from four locations in the United States: East Boston, Massachusetts; New Haven, Connecticut; Washington County, Iowa; and five counties in north central North Carolina.

In East Boston, study investigators conducted a complete community census to identify eligible participants in 1982 and 1983. 3,812 persons (approximately 84% of eligible persons) agreed to participate and underwent a baseline interview. At baseline, 62% of participants were female and most were working class. Participants were subsequently invited to complete up to 6 annual follow-up examinations between 1983 and 1989.

An additional 1,208 participants were added to the cohort through 1988 as they reached 65 years of age.

As part of a substudy of dementia, East Boston EPESE participants underwent screening for AD at baseline, and random sample of 642 persons who did not have AD at baseline were evaluated for AD in 1985 and 1986.

Ethnicity Breakdown
The majority of the East Boston cohort was white, and many had an Italian-American background.

Diagnosis & Evaluation Methods
For a detailed description of screening protocol and dementia diagnoses, see Hebert et al. (1995).

References
Hebert LE, Scherr PA, Beckett LA, Albert MS, Pilgrim DM, Chown MJ, et al. Age-specific incidence of Alzheimer's disease in a community population. JAMA. 1995 May 3;273(17):1354-1359.

Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research. Description & Citation--Study No. 9915. Available at http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR/STUDY/09915.xml. Accessed Aug 28, 2009.

Morris MC, Scherr PA, Hebert LE, Glynn RJ, Bennett DA, Evans DA. Association of incident Alzheimer disease and blood pressure measured from 13 years before to 2 years after diagnosis in a large community study. Arch Neurol. 2001 Oct;58(10):1640-1646.