The CHANCES project aims at combining and integrating on-going studies in order to produce evidence on ageing-related health characteristics and determinants in Europe. Fifteen cohorts are included in the project, including the participating centers from the EPIC-Elderly study, the Esther study, the MORGAM study, the Rotterdam Cohort study, the SENECA study, the Zuthpen study, the Betula study, the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study, the HAPIEE study, the NIH-AARP cohort study, the Nurses Health Study, the SHARE study, the SMC study and the COSM study. Three types of studies are included in the consortium:

1. Cohort studies which were primarily established to address health issues related to ageing and ageing-related conditions – these studies have detailed and repeated assessments of chronic conditions and disabilities and other characteristics related to ageing (e.g., occupational status)

2. Cohort studies which were established for purposes other than the investigation of ageing-related conditions, but include a sufficiently large number of elderly to justify specific analyses – these studies have more limited information but include large and diverse populations

3. Cross-sectional studies which would allow identifying associations between ageing-related conditions and relevant health outcomes, to be tested in the longitudinal studies.

For the purpose of this project, the limit of 60 years of age is selected to define the elderly.  However, most cohorts included in the consortium include subjects aged 50 or over, and separate analyses will be conducted on health-related characteristics and determinants in subjects aged 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ years.

Health-related determinants comprise:

1. Socio-economic factors (e.g., education, income)
2. Environmental factors (e.g., occupational exposures)
3. Lifestyle factors (e.g., tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking)
4. Nutritional factors (e.g., BMI, dietary patterns)

Examples of ageing-related characteristics are retirement age, and extension of social networks.

Four major groups of chronic conditions and disabilities will be studied: (i) cancer; (ii) diabetes and cardiovascular diseases; (iii) fractures and osteoporosis; (iv) cognitive function and Alzheimer disease. 

Each cohort study included in the consortium will provide information on one or more chronic conditions and disabilities.  Information on other conditions and disabilities (e.g., eye diseases, chronic respiratory conditions) will be collected if available and will be used in further studies.  Mortality will be assessed in terms of age-specific rates a well as disability-adjusted life years (DALY).

In addition to reaching its specific goals, the study will generate a unique resource for additional studies on health and its determinants in the elderly.  Provisions will be made for access to other researchers.