HAALSI Baseline Laboratory Data

For the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) project, a sub-sample of participants were invited to participate in an additional laboratory visit. A sample of participants age 40-69 were invited to visit the laboratory for an additional survey, cognition testing, venous blood and urine collection, spirometry, vision testing, EKG, ankle brachial index measurement, peripheral neuropathy test, abdominal ultrasound, anthropometrics. A sample of participants age 70-79 were visited at home for an additional survey, cognition testing, and venous blood collection. Data from selected laboratory tests are available and made public here, with more data forthcoming. The unique identifier (prim_key) may be merged to the HAALSI baseline survey data

HAALSI Baseline Survey

The Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) study is a population-based survey implemented by the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand. HAALSI aims to examine and characterize a population of older men and women in rural South Africa with respect to health, physical and cognitive function, aging, and well-being, in harmonization with other Health and Retirement Studies. The baseline survey was conducted in November 2014-November 2015 among 5,059 men and women aged 40 years or older, who were randomly sampled from within the existing framework of the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system (AHDSS), in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The baseline survey was administered by local field workers in Shangaan at the participants' homes using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Extensive survey data was collected on cognitive and physical functioning, social networks, cardiometabolic disease and risk factors, HIV and HIV risk, and economic well-being. The survey also included anthropometric measures and point-of-care blood tests for hemoglobin, glucose and lipids. Two additional rounds of data collection are planned over the next five years. Future data releases will share results from dried bloodspots (DBS) that were collected during the survey and tested for HIV, HIV viral load, HbA1c and CRP, as well as more extensive laboratory follow-up testing on a sub-sample of participants. The laboratory sub-study was administered in collaboration with the H3Africa/AWIGEN study (Genomic and Environmental Risk Factors for Cardiometabolic Disease in Africans), which will examine genetic data from these participants

HAALSI Baseline HIV Biomarker Data

For the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) baseline survey, HIV biomarkers were collected during the home survey through dried blood spots (DBS). DBS were tested for HIV, HIV viral load, and presence of antiretroviral drugs (emtricitabine and lamivudine, which are used in all standard first and second-line HIV regimens in South Africa). CD4 tests were performed on venous blood among the sub-sample of participants who visited the laboratory. * The HIV screening and confirmatory enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays used were the Vironostika HIV 1/2 Ag/Ab MicroELISA System (BioMérieux, Marcy-l’Étoile, France) and the Roche Cobas E411 Combi Ag, respectively. * The viral load platform was BioMérieux NucliSens with a lower limit of detection of 100 copies by DBS. * Testing for exposure to either emtricitabine (FTC) or lamivudine (3TC) was performed at the Pharmacokinetic Laboratory at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. A semiquantitative LC/MS/MS assay with a lower limit of detection of 0.02 mg/mL was validated for the determination of 3TC and FTC from DBS. The method consisted of a protein precipitation, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography with MS/MS detection using gradient elution

An Innovative Language Controlled Tablet-Based Cognitive Test: Harmonizing Dementia Screening across High and Low Literacy Countries

An Innovative Language Controlled Tablet-Based Cognitive Test: Harmonizing Dementia Screening across High and Low Literacy Countries (Harmonization) study evaluates a novel tablet-based cognition testing approach to reduce cultural or educational bias in cognitive assessments. In collaboration with Oxford University, we use an innovative language controlled tablet-based program to assess cognition in the Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) study cohort. We implement the tablet-based assessment on a sample of participants aged 50 and older in Agincourt, South Africa, and validate it against standard cognitive batteries, clinical assessments, and informant assessments that are harmonized with other Health and Retirement Studies. The survey was implemented by the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand. The survey was conducted between September 2016 – July 2017 and was administered by local field workers in Shangaan at the participants' homes using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Data was collected on memory, orientation, language, attention/concentration, and executive functioning cognitive domains. The Harmonization study was funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA)

HAALSI Wave 1 Dried Blood Spot for C-Reactive Protein

The Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) study is a population-based survey implemented by the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand. HAALSI aims to examine and characterize a population of older men and women in rural South Africa with respect to health, physical and cognitive function, aging, and well-being, in harmonization with other Health and Retirement Studies. The Wave 1 survey was conducted in November 2014-November 2015 among 5,059 men and women aged 40 years or older, who were randomly sampled from within the existing framework of the Agincourt health and socio-demographic surveillance system (AHDSS), in rural Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The survey was administered by local field workers in Shangaan at the participants' homes using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). Extensive survey data was collected on cognitive and physical functioning, social networks, cardiometabolic disease and risk factors, HIV and HIV risk, and economic well-being. The survey also included anthropometric measures and point-of-care blood tests for hemoglobin, glucose and lipids, as well as collection of dried blood spots (DBS). This dataset contains only the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) values assayed from the DBS during the HAALSI Wave 1 survey. The data may be merged to the HAALSI survey data using the unique identifier (prim_key)

Additional file 4 of Mapping age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence in adults in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000–2018

Additional file 4: Supplemental results.1. README. 2. Prevalence range across districts. 3. Prevalence range between sexes. 4. Prevalence range between ages. 5. Age-specific district ranges