Chinese Longitudinal Aging Studies: A Review of Recent Findings

By 2020, the older Chinese adult population is expected to reach 164 million. Population aging in the context of major shifts in physical, economic, and social environments, poses unprecedented challenges to the field of public health and aging. Because of the shortened epidemiological transition, longitudinal studies of population aging in China provide a unique opportunity to study the relationship between changes in personal environment and health outcomes among older adults. A number of longitudinal aging studies have been conducted in the past 10 years, producing a rich set of cross-sectional and longitudinal data. An overview of three major population-based studies of the older adult population in China will be provided. The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) is an ongoing open cohort study examining the effects of the health, nutrition, and family planning policies and programs on health and nutritional status. The Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) is a longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of the oldest old Chinese. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, diet, and family support, activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive functioning, and chronic medical conditions were collected via in-home interviews. More recently, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) investigates a sample of households with members aged 45 years or above regarding a wide range of socio-economic status and health conditions. We will discuss the key findings from a selection of studies using these datasets as well as the implications for public health and policy research.