The data collected in the CLSA Memory Study will be used to develop a method of identifying CLSA participants who have memory problems and individuals without memory problems in the main CLSA study.
If the results of this study are published, your identity will remain confidential. It is expected that the information collected during this study will be used for analyses and will be published and presented to the scientific community at meetings and in journals.
Your agreement to participate in the CLSA Memory Study is entirely voluntary. Your decision to participate in the CLSA Memory Study does not affect your ongoing participation in the main CLSA study that you have participated in since 2012-2015.
You can choose to end your participation in this research (called withdrawal) at any time without having to provide a reason. If you choose to withdraw from the study, you are encouraged to contact the research team.
If you decide to leave the study, we will stop contacting you for the CLSA Memory Study.
You may ask that the information that was collected about you not be used for the study. However, once the study results have been released, we will not be able to remove it from our datasets. If you have any questions about the CLSA Memory Study, please contact us.
You will be told in a timely manner about new information that may be relevant to your willingness to stay in this study.
You have the right to be informed of the overall results of this research once the entire study is complete. As a person taking part in the main CLSA study, you have chosen if you would like to be sent regular updates about the study progress through electronic or mailed newsletters. The results of the CLSA Memory Study will be shared with all CLSA participants through those newsletters. Information about ongoing research, the research team, and general study results will be posted on the CLSA website.
Your rights to privacy are legally protected by federal and provincial laws that require safeguards to ensure that your privacy is respected.
If you consent to participate in the CLSA Memory Study, you do not give up any of your legal rights against the research team, the Public Health Agency of Canada, or involved institutions for compensation, nor does this form relieve the research team, the Public Health Agency of Canada, or their agents of their legal and professional responsibilities.
Each research ethics board has reviewed this study. The research ethics boards are responsible for ensuring that participants are informed of the risks associated with the research, and that participants are free to decide if participation is right for them. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a research participant, you may contact the Research Ethics Board associated with your Data Collection Site.
To collect data about mobility, the TicWatch is worn on the non-dominant wrist for seven days in a row, and a tracker is worn on the upper leg (called the thigh ActiGraph) for the same 7 days in a row.
The mobility trackers are provided at your in-home interview and worn for seven days. You will return both trackers to your Data Collection Site visit.
The TicWatch and thigh ActiGraph will record information about your movements throughout the day (e.g., step count, body position, etc.).
The thigh ActiGraph collects accelerometer data, which is information about speed of movement in any direction and is used to interpret your daily activity.
The TicWatch collects accelerometer data as well, and also gyroscopic data, heart rate, ambient light, and location. All of this data is used to track activity intensity and activity transition (the point when you change from one activity to another – such as from sitting to walking), as well as how you travel (car, public transit, bicycle, or walking), and the types of places you visit in your day. The TicWatch tracks location with GPS data. Specifically, longitude and latitude data from locations you visit are collected. These coordinates are turned into destination information only (restaurant, shopping, entertainment, hospital, etc.) in the research data. The specific longitude and latitude data is encrypted on the device and only accessible to the researchers who have the decryption algorithm (like a password) to do the translation from specific location data into destination information. For example, we would be interested to know that you travelled 4 km from your home by bus to get to a grocery store.
The CLSA COVID-19 Brain Health Study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Weston Family Foundation.
The CLSA COVID-19 Antibody Study studies the impact of COVID-19 among older adults in Canada, a population that has been shown to be at greatest risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19 disease. The study collected blood samples from CLSA participants to estimate levels of immunity among older adults and provide a deeper understanding of some of the factors that affect their experience of the disease.
This study was funded by the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. The mandate of this task force is to describe how widespread the coronavirus infection is in Canada.
The COVID-19 Antibody Study recruited a random sample of participants already enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. The study is now complete.
Individual results from the CLSA COVID-19 Antibody Study have been sent to all participants. A summary of findings from the CLSA COVID-19 Antibody Study is available here.
The CLSA is designed to exist until 2059. All blood samples are labelled with a unique study number, not your name, at the time of collection. They will be stored long-term in freezers at McMaster University until relevant analyses are completed.