The Newcastle 85+ study: biological, clinical and psychosocial factors associated with healthy ageing: study protocol

A cohort of 800 85 year olds from Newcastle and North Tyneside will be recruited at baseline and followed until the last participant has died. Eligible individuals will be all those who turn 85 during the year 2006 (i.e. born in 1921) and who are registered with a Newcastle or North Tyneside general practice. Participants will be visited in their current residence (own home or institution) by a research nurse at baseline, 18 months and 36 months. The assessment protocol entails a detailed multi-dimensional health assessment together with review of general practice medical records. Participants will be flagged with the NHS Central Register to provide details of the date and cause of death.The Newcastle 85+ Study will address key questions about health and health-maintenance in the 85+ population, with a particular focus on quantitative assessment of factors underlying variability in health, and on the relationships between health, nutrition and biological markers of the fundamental processes of ageing.The UK, like other developed countries, is experiencing a marked change in the age structure of its population, characterised by increasing life expectancy and continuing growth in the older fraction of the population [1-4]. Contrary to all major forecasts by national and international agencies over the last few decades, life expectancy has not reached a plateau but has continued to increase by about two years per decade [5-7]. In addition to the obvious reasons for the priority assigned to improving the health and care of older people within the UK through activities such as the NHS Strategic Review of Ageing and Age-Associated Disease and Disability [8] and the National Service Framework for Older People [9], there is great scientific interest in studying in detail what is happening to the health of the oldest old (over 85 years) and the factors that influence individual health trajectories. These insights are important, not only to inform us about the health status o