Medical, psychological and socioeconomic aspects of aging in Poland Assumptions and objectives of the PolSenior project Piotr Bledowski a, 1 , Malgorzata Mossakowska b, ⁎ , 1 , Jerzy Chudek c , Tomasz Grodzicki d , Andrzej Milewicz e , Aleksandra Szybalska b , Katarzyna Wieczorowska-Tobis f , Andrzej Wiecek g , Adam Bartoszek h , Andrzej Dabrowski i , Tomasz Zdrojewski j a Institute of Social Economy, Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw, Poland b International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Warsaw, Poland c Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland d Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland e Department and Clinic of Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Isotope Medicine, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland f Department of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland g Department and Clinic of Nephrology, Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland h Faculty of Sociology, Silesian University, Katowice, Poland i Institute of Tourism and Recreation, Josef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland j Department of Arterial Hypertension and Diabetology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland abstract article info Article history: Received 16 November 2010 Received in revised form 9 September 2011 Accepted 16 September 2011 Available online 28 September 2011 Section Editor: R. Westendorp Keywords: Epidemiology Elderly population Representative survey Multidisciplinary research Population health Abstract: Both descriptive and longitudinal studies of aging are nowadays a subject of growing interest in dif- ferent countries worldwide. However, in Poland and other Central–Eastern European countries, such com- prehensive, nationally representative, multidimensional studies were never performed in the past in elderly population. The present paper describes the PolSenior project including its objectives, sample selec- tion and structure, methods, fieldwork procedures and study flow. The aim of the project was to examine medical, psychological and socioeconomic aspects of aging in Poland. The research sample included 5695 re- spondents (2899 males and 2796 females) split into six equally sized age groups of elderly individuals (65–69 years, 70–74 years, 75–79 years, 80–84 years, 85–89 years, 90 + years) and one group of subjects just about to enter old age (55-59 years). Subjects were recruited using three stage stratified, proportional draw. The response rate was 42% and ranged from 32% to 61% between provinces. The study consisted of three visits performed by trained nurses including questionnaire survey, comprehensive geriatric assessment and blood and urine sampling. The questionnaire consisted of medical and specific socioeconomic questions. The comprehensive geriatric assessment included blood pressure and anthropometric measurements, as well as selected scales and tests routinely used in the examination of elderly subjects. Blood and urine samples were collected from 4737 and 4526 individuals, respectively. More than 50 biochemical parameters were measured, and DNA was isolated and banked. In a selected group of 1018 subjects, a medical examination by a physician was performed. The self-rated health was lower in females than in males in age groups 70–84, but similar in individuals of both sexes aged 65-69 and 85 years. Besides providing data on health and functioning of elderly population, the PolSenior project aims to analyze interrelationships between dif- ferent elements of health and social status, and between genetics and health status in advanced age. The re- sults of the PolSenior project will facilitate prioritizing the state's public health and social policies in elderly population. Such a program provides also an excellent starting point for longitudinal studies and a basis for comparative analysis between Poland and other European countries or regions. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The intense aging of today's societies results mainly from an in- creasing life span and declining birth rate. To obtain proper insights into the aging process, multi- and interdisciplinary studies are need- ed, that frame research questions and hypotheses, based on the inter- play between social, economic, medical, and genetic factors of aging. One of the very first such studies, the Supplement on Aging (SOA), was performed in 1984 in USA including subjects aged 55 years and over (Kovar et al., 1989). Their health and social status was described in order to provide information about how psychosocial and environ- mental factors interact with health determinants to influence the Experimental Gerontology 46 (2011) 1003–1009 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 22 597 07 20; fax: +48 22 597 07 82. E-mail address: malgosia@iimcb.gov.pl (M. Mossakowska). 1 Equal contribution to this work. 0531-5565/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2011.09.006 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Experimental Gerontology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/expgero