Open AccessVenous Blood-Based Biomarkers in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study: Rationale, Design, and Results From the 2015 Wave
Author(s) -
Xinxin Chen,
Eileen M. Crimmins,
Peifeng Hu,
Jung Ki Kim,
Qinqin Meng,
John Strauss,
Yafeng Wang,
Junxia Zeng,
Yuan S Zhang,
Yaohui Zhao
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.33
H-Index - 256
eISSN - 1476-6256
pISSN - 0002-9262
DOI - 10.1093/aje/kwz170
Subject(s) - longitudinal study , medicine , china , environmental health , health care , gerontology , sample (material) , demography , geography , economic growth , pathology , chemistry , archaeology , chromatography , sociology , economics
Blood biomarkers provide critical information about the health of older populations, especially in large developing countries where self-reports of health are often inaccurate due to lack of access to health care. However, it is very difficult to collect blood samples in representative population surveys in such countries. The China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a nationally representative study of middle-aged and older Chinese, represents one of the first efforts to include blood biomarkers in a nationally representative survey of China. In the 2015 wave of CHARLS, 13,013 respondents located in 150 counties around China donated whole blood, which was assayed on a range of indicators. Here we describe the process of the sample collection, transportation, storage, and analysis and present basic statistics.