The world-leading Dunedin Study is set to launch its age 52 assessments, delving into an understudied but important period of life and time of change.
The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study is a longitudinal study that follows the lives of 1037 babies born in Queen Mary Maternity Hospital between 1 April 1972 and 31 March 1973. It is the most detailed study of human health and development in the world.
Members have been assessed regularly throughout their lives, most recently at age 45.
Study Director, Research Professor Moana Theodore is incredibly excited to start the age 52 assessments on 8 April.
"Midlife is an understudied period of time when it comes to understanding health and wellbeing," Professor Theodore says.
Research often focuses on childhood or old age, leaving a gap in information about people in the middle part of their lives and how their health is shaped by their early lives and will affect how they age.
"Not only is it a time of change – people's children may be leaving home and their parents are getting older – but it's also when significant health issues can arise," she says.
"Chronic conditions emerge at earlier ages for some of our communities who have less access to services and experience inequities in health. The best way to study inequities is to identify lifecourse pathways that create them to inform programmes that address inequities now and for future generations."
By adding the new age-52 data to the information gathered from Study members in their 30s and 40s, researchers will be in a rare position to understand how people age.
"Why that's so important is because we have an ageing population. Some of our most pressing healthcare, social, and economic issues relate to how we best support and care for people as they age."
The assessments will take about two years to complete. Study members will undergo a range of physical tests including a dental examination, vision, hearing and respiratory tests, and will answer many questions about their lives. They will also attend a brain MRI scan on a second day.
Professor Theodore says researchers ensure as many members can participate as possible, bringing them to Dunedin from all over the world. Incredibly, 94 per cent of all living members took part in the age 45 assessments, making it the highest follow-up rate for a study of this design and duration in the world.
