Study Overview

LCSES and ARIC Studies

As part of the ARIC study, information on mid to later life socioeconomic status (SES) was collected at each of the four examinations. As an ancillary study, LCSES collected additional information from surviving participants about earlier life SES circumstances, individual-level SES and place of residence. The LCSES questionnaire was administered during 2001-02 ARIC annual telephone follow-up (AFU).

LCSES Participants

  • N = 12,716
  • 80.5% of the baseline ARIC participants
  • Approximately 95% of cohort survivors

LCSES Participant CharacteristicsL

  • 3% resided outside of the US
  • 44% resided in the same county as in midlife
  • Of the 12,314 participants who lived in the US as children, 99% were linked to county-level census data

Type of Historical Data Collected (Type of Historical Data Collected):

Individual Level SES

Individual Level Childhood SES: mother and father’s (or other caretaker’s)

Education

Occupation

Census-based categories analogous to those used in ARIC study

Owner vs. worker

Whether or not managed or supervised

Home ownership

Recalled Individual-level SES-Related Attributes in Earlier Adulthood

Occupation at ages 30, 40, and 50 (Grouped into Bureau of Census Job Categories)

Characteristics of Job ( Owner vs. Worker, Managerial/Supervisory)

Home ownership

City / County / State of Residence during childhood

Distribution of Participants by Birth Cohort

Place of Residence at Ages 30, 40, and 50 (Participants asked to provide their complete street address)

Goals/Progress:

  • Link with census tract data from historical census (1960 – 1980) most closely corresponding to the given age
  • Only queried about address for a given age if not already in ARIC at this age
    Progress to Data
  • Strategies for working with complex historical census data have been developed
  • Individual and contextual / neighborhood socio-economic exposure data across the life course has been assembled for study participants
  • Various research projects focusing on cardiovascular disease related outcomes are in progress