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Cohort Profile: The Precipitating Events Project (PEP Study)

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

The Precipitating Events Project (PEP Study) is an ongoing longitudinal study of 754 nondisabled community-living persons age 70 years or older who were members of a large health plan in greater New Haven, Connecticut, USA. The study was established to rigorously evaluate the epidemiology of disability in older persons and to elucidate the role of intervening illnesses and injuries on the disabling process. Of the eligible members, 75.2% agreed to participate and were enrolled between March 1998 and October 1999. Participants have completed comprehensive home-based assessments at 18-month intervals and have been interviewed monthly over the phone with a completion rate of 99%. Detailed participant-level data on health care utilization are obtained annually through linkages with Medicare claims. Through June 2019, 702 (93.1%) participants have died after a median of 109 months, while 43 (5.7%) have dropped out of the study after a median of 27 months. Death certificates are available for all decedents. To date, 117 original reports have been published using data from the PEP Study, including many focusing on other high priority areas such as end of life, frailty, depressive symptoms, aging stereotypes, pain, sleep, and methodologic research. The PEP Study welcomes proposals to access data for meritorious analyses from qualified investigators.

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Acknowledgements

The assembly of the PEP Cohort was supported by two private USA awards: a Generalist Physician Faculty Scholar award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a Paul Beeson Physician Faculty Scholar in Aging Research award from the John A. Hartford Foundation and American Federation for Aging Research. We thank Denise Shepard, BSN, MBA, Andrea Benjamin, BSN, Barbara Foster, and Amy Shelton, MPH for assistance with data collection; Geraldine Hawthorne, BS, for assistance with data entry and management; Peter Charpentier, MPH for design and development of the study database and participant tracking system; and Joanne McGloin, MDiv, MBA for leadership and advice as the Project Director.

Funding

Funding: The PEP Study has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (R01AG017560, K24AG021507, K07AG043587, P30AG021342).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Thomas M. Gill, L. Han, E. A. Gahbauer, L. Leo-Summers & T. E. Murphy

  2. Yale School of Medicine, Adler Geriatric Center, 874 Howard Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Thomas M. Gill

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  1. Thomas M. Gill
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  2. L. Han
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  3. E. A. Gahbauer
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Correspondence to Thomas M. Gill.

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Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest.

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Gill, T.M., Han, L., Gahbauer, E.A. et al. Cohort Profile: The Precipitating Events Project (PEP Study). J Nutr Health Aging 24, 438–444 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1341-4

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