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Cohort profile: Beijing Healthy Aging Cohort Study (BHACS)

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The Beijing Healthy Aging Cohort Study (BHACS) was established to supplement the limited data of a large representative cohort of older people based on the general population and was designed to evaluate the prevalence, incidence, and natural history of cognitive decline, functional disability, and conventional vascular risk factors. The aim was to determine the evolution of these conditions by estimating the rates and determinants of progression and regression to adverse outcomes, including dementia, cardiovascular events, cancer, and all-cause death. It can therefore provide evidence to help policy makers develop better policies to promote healthy aging in China. BHACS consisted of three cohorts (BLSA, CCHS-Beijing, and BECHCS) in Beijing with a total population of 11 235 (6281 in urban and 4954 in rural areas) and an age range of 55 years or older (55–101 years) with a mean age of 70.35 ± 7.71 years (70.69 ± 7.62 years in urban and 69.92 ± 7.80 years in rural areas). BHACS-BLSA conducted the baseline survey in 2009 with a multistage stratification-random clustering procedure for people aged 55 years or older; BHACS-CCHS-Beijing conducted the baseline survey in 2013–2015 with a stratified multistage cluster random sampling method for people aged 55 years or older; and BHACS-BECHCS conducted the baseline survey in 2010–2014 with two-stage cluster random sampling method for people aged 60 years or older. Data were collected through questionnaires, physical measurements, and laboratory analyses. Topics covered by BHACS include a wide range of physical and mental health indicators, lifestyles and personal, family, and socio-economic determinants of health. There are no immediate plans to make the cohort data freely available to the public, but specific proposals for further collaboration are welcome. For further information and collaboration, please contact the corresponding author Yao He (e-mail: yhe301@x263.net).

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Acknowledgements

All authors thank the Beijing Longitudinal Study of Aging team, the Cardiovascular and Cognitive Health Study in Middle-Aged and Elderly Residents of Beijing team, and the Beijing Elderly Comprehensive Health Cohort Study team for providing data and sharing the use of the data sets in the Beijing Healthy Aging Cohort Study. We thank all volunteers and staff involved in this research.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82173589, 82173590); Capital’s Funds for Health Improvement and Research (2022-2G-5031); National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2503605); the National Key Program in the Twelfth Five-year Plan (Grant No. 2011BAI 11 B01) from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology; Commission of Science and Technology of Beijing (Grant No. D121100004912002); and Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission (Z171100001017019).

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Author notes

  1. Miao Liu and Junhan Yang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School, Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, 100853, China

    Miao Liu, Junhan Yang & Yueting Shi

  2. Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Key Laboratory of Aging and Geriatrics, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics Diseases, Second Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Junhan Yang, Jianhua Wang, Shengshu Wang, Haowei Li, Shaohua Liu, Shimin Chen, Xuehang Li, Zhiqiang Li, Rongrong Li, Huaihao Li, Yinghui Bao, Yueting Shi & Yao He

  3. Evidence-Based Medical Center, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    Chunxiu Wang, Chengbei Hou & Xianghua Fang

  4. Department of Disease Prevention and Control, First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Shanshan Yang

  5. Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Xiaoying Li

  6. Department of Gerontology, Fuxing Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100038, China

    Fang Li

  7. Miyun County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 101500, China

    Hongbing Yang

  8. Department of Gerontology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    Shimin Hu

  9. Beijing Geriatric Healthcare Center, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    Zhe Tang

  10. State Key Laboratory of Kidney Diseases, Beijing, 100853, China

    Yao He

Authors
  1. Miao Liu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Xianghua Fang, Yao He, Zhe Tang, and Miao Liu designed the Study. Yao He, Miao Liu, Chunxiu Wang, Shanshan Yang, Jianhua Wang, Chengbei Hou, Shengshu Wang, Xiaoying Li, and Hongbing Yang directed the study’s implementation. Junhan Yang, Haowei Li, Shaohua Liu, Yang Song, Shimin Chen, Shimin Hu, Xuehang Li, Zhiqiang Li, Rongrong Li, Huaihao Li, Yinghui Bao, and Yueting Shi designed the analytical strategy and helped to interpret the findings. Junhan Yang, Huaihao Li, Yinghui Bao, and Yueting Shi helped to write the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yao He.

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Competing Interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics approval

BHACS was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, approved by the Ethics Committee of Chinese PLA General Hospital (S2022-412-02), and registered by the China Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200066177).

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Liu, M., Yang, J., Wang, C. et al. Cohort profile: Beijing Healthy Aging Cohort Study (BHACS). Eur J Epidemiol 39, 101–110 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-023-01050-z

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