Center for Aging and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010 Oct;58 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S287-91. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02916.x.
Longitudinal studies have contributed substantially to understanding of aging and geriatric syndromes. These efforts have provided a base of knowledge of the critical factors to consider in designing and implementing new longitudinal studies in older adults. This review highlights some of the major considerations in planning and implementing this type of study. Longitudinal studies can assess change over time and specific disease endpoints. Such projects require multidisciplinary teams with expertise in the many health and contextual factors that must be considered. Recent advances in study design include the use of imaging and biomarkers to assess mechanisms and approaches that raise the ceiling on measurement and integrate assessment of exposures over time. Study implementation requires careful planning and monitoring to maintain fidelity to the scientific goals. Analysis of longitudinal data requires approaches that account for inevitable missing data. New studies should take advantage of the experience obtained from longitudinal studies on aging already conducted.
纵向研究为理解衰老和老年综合病症做出了重大贡献。这些努力为设计和实施老年人新的纵向研究提供了一个需要考虑的关键因素的知识库。本综述强调了规划和实施此类研究的一些主要注意事项。纵向研究可以评估随时间的变化和特定疾病终点。此类项目需要多学科团队，具有健康和背景因素方面的专业知识，这些因素都必须加以考虑。研究设计的最新进展包括使用影像学和生物标志物来评估机制和方法，这些方法提高了测量上限，并整合了随时间推移的暴露评估。研究实施需要精心规划和监测，以保持对科学目标的保真度。纵向数据分析需要采用方法来处理不可避免的缺失数据。新的研究应利用已经进行的关于衰老的纵向研究中获得的经验。
