Add Health is excited to be attending the 2022 Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Conference from November 2 – 6, 2022. Visit the Add Health exhibit booth to learn more about our plethora of data or to have your questions answered by staff. For additional information on the GSA conference and schedule visit the GSA website.
Life expectancy at birth in the United States declined for the second year in a row in 2021 and is now 76.1 years. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s The Well recently sat down with Add Health Director Dr. Robert A. Hummer to get the inside story on the causes of the decline. Dr. Hummer acknowledges the impact Covid-19 has had on the population. At the same time, however, other reasons for the decline began prior to the pandemic and are also very important. Combining the recent pandemic with mortality increases due to suicide, the opioid and obesity epidemics, and more highlights how unhealthy U.S. society is as a whole. Also critically important, these declines in life expectancy are not equal across demographic groups; the declines have been particularly striking among the Alaska Native and American Indian population, the Black and Hispanic populations, and among those who have a high school or lower education. Dr. Hummer recognizes the importance of the rapid development of technical solutions to health problems in the United States, such as medications, vaccines, and surgical procedures. However, where the U.S. falls short are with social and economic solutions to our health problems. Dr. Hummer states that, as a society, we need to reduce racial, ethnic, and education/income inequalities, curb racism, increase minimum wage, and provide greater access to childcare to help increase our life expectancy and reduce disparities. If we work seriously on these social and economic solutions, Dr. Hummer believes that pandemics and new health problems won’t be as impactful in the future.
The following data are now available to Add Health contract researchers.
Wave IV dbGaP GWAS Sample Weight
A weight component for the dbGaP GWAS Sample. N=9,975
Current Add Health investigators can log in to the CPC Data Portal and use the “Request More Data” button to order this dataset.
For more information on the CPC Data Portal, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Add Health has released the following data to contract researchers:
Individual Vital Status and Underlying Cause of Death File, 2019
This file contains one record for each of the 20,745 Add Health sample members from Wave I. It provides the vital status of each sample member as well as the National Death Index-provided underlying cause of death code in ICD-10 format for each decedent. The month and year of the most recent Add Health interview are provided for living sample members, while the month and year of death are provided for decedents. N=20,745
Ordered Cause of Death File, 2019
This file contains entity- and record-axis codes reported by the National Death Index (NDI) for each decedent in the Add Health sample. The file is arranged hierarchically, by axis code; therefore, each decedent may have multiple records depending on the maximum number of entity- and record-axis codes recorded by NDI. The sequence of the decedent’s records reflects the order in which the entity- and record-axis codes were reported in the NDI record. N=1,745
All Coded Causes of Death File, Including Entity-Axis Codes, 2019
This file contains all underlying cause of death and entity-axis codes appearing in the National Death Index (NDI) source file. Functioning as dummy variables, zero represents the absence of a code on the decedent’s death certificate, while one denotes the presence of one. N=540
All Coded Causes of Death File, Including Record-Axis Codes, 2019
This file contains all underlying cause of death and record-axis codes appearing in the National Death Index (NDI) source file. Functioning as dummy variables, zero represents the absence of a code on the decedent’s death certificate, while one denotes the presence of one. N=540
Current Add Health investigators can log in to the CPC Data Portal and use the “Request More Data” button to order this dataset.
For more information on the CPC Data Portal, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Thank you to all our amazing staff, presenters, moderators, and attendees for making the 2022 Add Health Users Conference a huge success! We had a great time seeing everyone in person and learning more about how Add Health data is used. The Plenary and Methodology presentations are now available for viewing. We hope to see you all again at the next users conference in 2024!
Plenary Session: Add Health History, New Data, and Future Plans
Methodology Sessions
The final agenda for the 2022 Add Health Users Conference is now available.
The conference program features over 40 presentations by investigators who are conducting research on the health and well-being of adolescents and adults using Add Health data. In addition, methodology sessions will be offered providing in-depth information on contextual data within Add Health, racial inequalities, cognitive function, genomics, biological data, and how best to use and analyze the Add Health data sets.
The principal goal of the conference is to give researchers who are working with data from Add Health an opportunity to share research goals, experiences, and results. It will also provide an opportunity for those interested in working with the data to learn how they are currently being used by others.
The conference is being co-sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, NIH; the Add Health Study at the Carolina Population Center, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more information, visit the conference website.
“America’s kids are not all right — we need urgent action to save young lives,” the title of a recent op-ed in The Hill by Add Health Director, Dr. Hummer, says it all. As COVID-19 continues, concerns regarding the mental health of children and young adults have become a popular topic of conversation. But the truth is, kids were not all right before the pandemic. “Americans under age 25 face higher death rates and lower life expectancies than their peers in other affluent nations,” remarks Hummer in his recent piece. The infant mortality rate is three times higher in the U.S. than in other affluent countries, accounting for almost 21,000 deaths of the nearly 60,000 people under the age of 25 who died in America in 2019. Childhood poverty also plays a large role in the risk of dying early. Despite government benefits, such as food assistance and housing vouchers, one report showed that the U.S. child poverty rate is the second-highest out of 35 advanced economies.
Dr. Hummer’s op-ed suggests that “many young lives could be saved through policies and interventions addressing social and economic inequities.” By reducing child poverty and providing access to childcare, preschool, housing, nutrition, and healthcare, many young lives could be saved. Another crucial avenue to lower death rates is to improve access to quality healthcare and reproductive health programs by addressing the racial and ethnic barriers. The risk of death before age 25 is 60% higher among Black children and adolescents than their white peers. Dr. Hummer states, “Policymakers and community leaders need to take a hard look at what can be done to implement reforms that will save young lives. In our incredibly wealthy country, we must assure that our children are not in poverty, have their health care needs met and are free from the dangers of firearm violence. We owe our children and adolescents at least this much.”
Visit The Hill to read the full article.
Add Health is hitting the road! We are excited to attend the PAA 2022 annual meeting from April 6, 2022, to April 9, 2022, our first in-person conference in over two years. Dr. Robert A. Hummer, Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, and other members of the Add Health team will present during the conference. Team members will also be at booth #22 and ready to answer your questions and provide more information on these rich data sets. Visit PAA for the full conference schedule. We can’t wait to see you there!
Add Health is pleased to announce the release and public download availability of Wave V Public-Use Biomarker Data.
Wave V Demographics – Home Exam
This file contains various demographic variables in regards to the Wave V Home Exam, including the date of the home exam, number of days between the Wave V survey and the home exam, the home exam completion status, as well as the respondent’s age, biological sex, pregnancy status, medication use, and blood draw status. N=1,839
Wave V Anthropometrics
This file contains anthropometric variables constructed from the measurements taken at the Wave V Home Exam. The measurements include arm circumference, height, weight, and waist circumference. The file also contains BMI, as well as classification variables for BMI and waist circumference. N=1,839
Wave V Medications – Home Exam
This file provides the therapeutic classification codes, as well as numerous medication flag variables, to identify the types of medications taken by respondents for medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) reported at the Wave V Home Exam. N=3,883
Wave V Cardiovascular Measures
This file contains cardiovascular measures constructed from the three serial measurements of blood pressure and pulse rate collected at the Wave V Home Exam. The measures include systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure. Other variables included in the file are two classifications of blood pressure, flags based on self-reported medical history, an antihypertensive medication flag, and a joint classification variable. N=1,839
Wave V Lipids
This file contains constructed measures designed to facilitate analysis and interpretation of lipids results based on venous blood collected via phlebotomy at the Wave V Home Exam. In addition to the lipid assay results, there are classifications according to both the NCEP/ATP III and AHA/ACC guidelines, a flag for antihyperlipidemic medication use, and two hyperlipidemia joint classification variables. N=1,839
Wave V Glucose Homeostasis
This file contains assay results of glucose and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) based on venous blood collected via phlebotomy at the Wave V Home Exam. There are classifications for fasting glucose and non-fasting glucose, as well as HbA1C classification. Other variables included are flags based on a self-reported diabetes medical history, anti-diabetic medication use, and a diabetes joint classification variable. N=1,839
Wave V Inflammation and Immune Function
This file contains constructed measures designed to facilitate analysis and interpretation of inflammation and immune function based on venous blood collected via phlebotomy at the Wave V Home Exam. In addition to the assay results for high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), there is an AHA/CDC classification, counts of subclinical symptoms and common infectious or inflammatory diseases, and various anti-inflammatory medication use flags. N=1,839
Wave V Renal Function
This file contains constructed measures designed to facilitate analysis and interpretation of renal function based on venous blood collected via phlebotomy at the Wave V Home Exam. Assay results for creatinine and cystatin-c are available, as well as three different estimations of the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using either the creatine concentration, the cystatin C concentration, or both concentrations. Classifications according to both clinical and KDIGO guidelines are available as well. N=1,839
For more information regarding Wave V Public-Use Data or to download the data, please visit the CPC Data Portal.
Add Health is pleased to announce the dates of the 2022 Add Health Users Conference. Join us Monday, July 11, and Tuesday, July 12, 2022, at the Rizzo Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Connect with other Add Health users and learn more about these rich data sets.
Registration is now open. The preliminary agenda will be available in late spring. For conference updates and additional details, including hotel accommodations, visit the conference website.
Add Health is currently accepting abstracts. Submissions are due by Monday, March 21, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Abstracts may be submitted through the abstract form located on the conference website. For more information and suggested topics, view the full Call for Papers.
