Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES): Wave 4

Project Summary / Abstract Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES): Wave 4 Costa Rica has been long recognized as an important country to study based on its achievement of “good health at low cost.” Despite being a middle-income country, its life expectancy is among the highest in Latin America and higher than many high-income countries such as the United States, with unusually low mortality at older ages. From 2005-2012 we conducted two to three longitudinal interviews of Costa Ricans ages 55+ as part of the nationally representative Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES). We now propose a long-term follow-up interview of this panel. Based on tracking using high quality vital statistics linkages and a pilot tracking survey, we anticipate over 3,500 current survivors who we will attempt to interview in Aim 1. Primary respondents will be ages 70+ at the time of this proposed new CRELES wave 4 interview, and we will also interview current spouses regardless of age. In addition to repeating the comprehensive CRELES questionnaires, we will again conduct physical health measurements and draw venous blood for biomarkers. Innovations will include adding a detailed new cognitive module based on the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP), with both cognitive performance tests and informant interviews, in order to advance research on Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia (AD/ADRD) among older Costa Rican adults. In Aim 2 we will first analyze patterns of healthy aging trajectories in Costa Rica to update our understanding of socioeconomic gradients, as well as health performance in international comparison. We will then use the HCAP dementia data for detailed analysis of dementia patterns and international harmonized comparisons of cognitive performance and its determinants in this remarkable population.