Introduction to the Canadian Study of Health and Aging

The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) is a population-based, cohort study of the epidemiology of dementia in Canada. It involved 10,263 participants aged 65 or over, and a team of over 60 investigators (clinicians, epidemiologists, social scientists, psychologists and others) collaborated in 18 study centres across Canada. Data were collected at 5-yearly intervals: CSHA-1 in 1991, CSHA-2 in 1996, and CSHA-3 in 2001.

The objectives focussed on the epidemiology of dementia, and provided estimates of prevalence, incidence and risk factors, and examined patterns of caring for people with dementia. Numerous additional objectives were included, such as studies of frailty and physical disability, healthy aging, health care utilization and a wide range of methodological topics.