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Ageing in Women and Men: A Longitudinal Study of Gender Differences in Health Behaviour and Health among Elderly (GENDER)

SND-ID: 2022-46

This study is part of the collection NEAR - National E-Infrastructure for Aging Research in Sweden

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Description

The Longitudinal Study of Gender Differences in Health Behaviour and Health among Elderly (GENDER) is a study of unlike-sex twin pairs born between 1906 and 1925 (Gold et al., 2002). A survey concerning health and health behaviors was mailed in 1994 with responses from 1210 twins from 605 pairs where both responded. Mean age at baseline assessment was 74.43 years (SD 4.28) and all were Caucasians.

The main interest of the study was gender differences in health and health behaviors in old age.
• Questions about subjective health, use of healthcare, and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care etc. are available.
• Measures of grip-strength, vital capacity, blood pressure, a number of exercises related to muscle strength and balance, and cognitive functions are available.
• Blood values and genotyping are also available.

Study Reference:
Gold, C. H., Malmberg, B., McClearn, G. E., Pedersen, N. L., & Berg, S. (2002). Gender and health: A study of older unlike-sex twins. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psy

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Language

English

Swedish

Research principal, contributors, and funding

Research principal

Jönköping University

Responsible department/unit

College of Health and Welfare

Funding 1

  • Funding agency: FAS (currently FORTE)

Funding 2

  • Funding agency: Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson foundation

Funding 3

  • Funding agency: FNR through SFR

Funding 4

  • Funding agency: The MacArthur Foundation

Funding 5

  • Funding agency: King Gustav V's memorial fund
Protection and ethical review

Data contains personal data

Yes

Sensitive personal data

Yes

Type of personal data

Pseudonymised health data

Code key exists

Yes

Ethics Review

Swedish Ethical Review Authority - Ref. 2021-02095

Method and time period

Unit of analysis

Population

Opposite-sex twins born between 1906 and 1925 and living in Sweden in 1994

Time Method

Study design

Observational study

Cohort study

Cohort study: Prospective

Description of study design

A baseline in-person evaluation of 498 twins from 249 pairs between 70 and 80 years of age was undertaken between 1995 and 1997. Two additional in-person waves followed at four-year intervals. Finally, a second survey was mailed in 2007 to all living twins who participated in the first mailed survey.

Sampling procedure

Other
Opposite-sex twin pairs born between 1906 and 1925 were identified in the Swedish Twin Registry and invited to participate in the study.

Time period(s) investigated

1994 – 2007

Biobank is connected to the study

The study has collected samples/material which are stored in a scientific collection or biobank

Scientific collection or biobank name: GENDER

Type(s) of sample: Blood tests

Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic location: Sweden

Geographic description: All counties in Sweden

Topic and keywords

Research area

DEMOGRAPHY (POPULATION, VITAL STATISTICS, AND CENSUSES), HEALTH, Health care services and policies, General health and well-being, Gender and gender roles, Elderly, PSYCHOLOGY, OTHER (CESSDA Topic Classification)
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Psychology, Gender Studies (The Swedish standard of fields of research 2011)

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), aging, functioning, twins, cognition, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Publications

Gold, C. H., Malmberg, B., McClearn, G. E., Pedersen, N. L., & Berg, S. (2002). Gender and health: A study of older unlike-sex twins. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57B, S168-S176.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.3.s168

If you have published anything based on these data, please notify us with a reference to your publication(s). If you are responsible for the catalogue entry, you can update the metadata/data description in DORIS.

Access to data via

Contact

Deborah Finkel

deborah.finkel@ju.se

Dataset 1
Q1: Pilot study, servey, 1994

Description

A postal survey was sent in 1995

Questions about subjective health, medicine consumption and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care etc. are available.

Citation

Gold, C. H., Malmberg, B., McClearn, G. E., Pedersen, N. L., & Berg, S. (2002). Gender and health: A study of older unlike-sex twins. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57B, S168-S176.

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), functioning, twins, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Time period(s) investigated

1995 – 1995

Data collection

  • Mode of collection: Self-administered questionnaire
  • Description of the mode of collection: Questions about subjective health, medicine consumption and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care etc. are available.
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 1995–1995
  • Sample: A postal survey was sent in 1995 to unlike sex twin pairs aged 70-80 identified from the Swedish Twin Registry
  • Number of responses: 1210
  • Source of the data: Population group

Variables

418

Number of individuals/objects

1210

Dataset 2
IPT1:Baseline evaluation, interview, cognitive and physical functioning, 1995-1997

Description

A baseline in-person evaluation of 498 twins from 249 pairs between 70 and 80 years of age was undertaken between 1995 and 1997, and included an interview and tests of cognitive and physical functioning.

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), functioning, twins, cognition, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Data collection

  • Mode of collection: Interview
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 1995–1997
  • Instrument: Interview and tests of cognitive and physical functioning.
  • Sample size: 498
  • Number of responses: 498
  • Source of the data: Population group

Variables

841

Number of individuals/objects

498

Dataset 3
IPT2: interview, cognitive and physical functioning, 1999-2001

Description

Questions about subjective health, medication consumption and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care, etc. are available. Furthermore, measures of grip strength, vital capacity, blood pressure, a number of exercises related to muscle strength and balance as well as cognitive functions are available. Blood counts and genotyping are also available.

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), functioning, twins, cognition, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Data collection

  • Mode of collection: Interview
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 1999–2001
  • Instrument: Interview and tests of cognitive and physical function
  • Sample size: 498
  • Number of responses: 498

Variables

891

Number of individuals/objects

498

Dataset 4
IPT3: interview, cognitive and physical functioning, 2003-2005

Description

Questions about subjective health, medication consumption and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care, etc. are available. Furthermore, measures of grip strength, vital capacity, blood pressure, a number of exercises related to muscle strength and balance as well as cognitive functions are available. Blood counts and genotyping are also available.

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), functioning, twins, cognition, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Data collection

  • Mode of collection: Interview
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 2003–2005
  • Instrument: Interview and tests of cognitive and physical function.
  • Sample size: 306
  • Source of the data: Population group

Variables

881

Number of individuals/objects

306

Dataset 5
Q2: survey 2007

Description

Questions about subjective health, medication consumption and behaviors and attitudes related to health, perceived ADL capacity, personality and social networks, formal and informal care, etc. are available.

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Text

Creator/Principal investigator(s)

Deborah Finkel - Jönköping University, College of Health and Welfare orcid

Keywords

ageing, health, gender, well-being (health), functioning, twins, lifestyle, near- national e-infrastructure for aging research

Time period(s) investigated

2007 – 2007

Data collection

  • Mode of collection: Self-administered questionnaire
  • Time period(s) for data collection: 2007–2007
  • Sample size: 356
  • Number of responses: 356
  • Source of the data: Population group

Variables

315

Number of individuals/objects

356

Contact for questions about the data

Deborah Finkel

deborah.finkel@ju.se

Is part of collection at SND

NEAR - National E-Infrastructure for Aging Research in Sweden

Published: 2022-03-18