Sanchez Santos Maria T, Williamson Esther, Bruce Julie, Ward Lesley, Mallen Christian D, Garrett Angela, Morris Alana, Lamb Sarah E
Centre for Rehabilitation Research in Oxford, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, Division of Health Sciencies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
BMJ Open. 2020 Sep 3;10(9):e037516. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037516.
The 'Oxford Pain, Activity and Lifestyle' (OPAL) Cohort is a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of adults, aged 65 years and older, living in the community which is investigating the determinants of health in later life. Our focus was on musculoskeletal pain and mobility, but the cohort is designed with flexibility to include new elements over time. This paper describes the study design, data collection and baseline characteristics of participants. We also compared the OPAL baseline characteristics with nationally representative data sources.
We randomly selected eligible participants from two stratified age bands (65-74 and 75 and over years). In total, 5409 individuals (42.1% of eligible participants) from 35 general practices in England agreed to participate between 2016 and 2018. The majority of participants (n=5367) also consented for research team to access their UK National Health Service (NHS) Digital and primary healthcare records.
Mean participant age was 74.9 years (range 65-100); 51.5% (n=2784/5409) were women. 94.9% of participants were white, and 28.8% lived alone. Over 83.0% reported pain in at least one body area in the previous 6 weeks. Musculoskeletal symptoms were more prevalent in women (86.4%). One-third of participants reported having one or more falls in the last year. Most participants were confident in their ability to walk outside. The characteristics of OPAL Cohort participants were broadly similar to the general population of the same age.
Postal follow-up of the cohort is being undertaken at annual intervals, with data collection ongoing. Linkage to NHS hospital admission data is planned. This English prospective cohort offers a large and rich resource for research on the longitudinal associations between demographic, clinical, and social factors and health trajectories and outcomes in community-dwelling older people.
“牛津疼痛、活动与生活方式”（OPAL）队列研究是一项针对65岁及以上社区成年人的纵向、前瞻性队列研究，旨在探究晚年健康的决定因素。我们关注的是肌肉骨骼疼痛和活动能力，但该队列研究设计具有灵活性，以便随着时间推移纳入新的研究内容。本文描述了研究设计、数据收集以及参与者的基线特征。我们还将OPAL队列的基线特征与具有全国代表性的数据源进行了比较。
我们从两个分层年龄组（65 - 74岁和75岁及以上）中随机选取符合条件的参与者。2016年至2018年间，来自英格兰35家全科诊所的5409名个体（占符合条件参与者的42.1%）同意参与研究。大多数参与者（n = 5367）还同意研究团队获取他们的英国国民健康服务（NHS）数字化和初级医疗保健记录。
参与者的平均年龄为74.9岁（范围65 - 100岁）；51.5%（n = 2784/5409）为女性。94.9%的参与者为白人，28.8%独自生活。超过83.0%的参与者报告在过去6周内至少有一个身体部位疼痛。肌肉骨骼症状在女性中更为普遍（86.4%）。三分之一的参与者报告在过去一年中有过一次或多次跌倒。大多数参与者对自己在户外行走的能力有信心。OPAL队列参与者的特征与同年龄的一般人群大致相似。
正在每年对该队列进行邮寄随访，数据收集工作仍在进行。计划将其与NHS医院入院数据进行关联。这个英国前瞻性队列研究为研究社区居住老年人的人口统计学、临床和社会因素与健康轨迹及结果之间的纵向关联提供了丰富且庞大的资源。
