More than 27000 Dried Blood Spots (DBS) samples have been collected during Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement (SHARE). They will be used to gather objective information on the respondents’ health status. They are currently analyzed for biomarkers influenced by life style and/or correlated to later-life health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or cognitive decline.
Before starting the laboratory analyses, for each sample the availabilty of a consent form signed by the repsondent has to be confirmed. Furthermore, each sample has to be linkable (via a barcoded number) to the SHARE interview data. This work has been coordinated mainly by Sabine Friedel and Julie Korbmacher. All samples for wich the two above mentioned conditions are met (ca. 98%) are now being analysed in two laboratories: at the Staten Serum Institute (SSI) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and at the Department of Laboratory Medicine of the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, USA. Specific contracts have been drawn up with these laboratories. The selection, shipment, analyses and linkage of the results is tracked and coordinated centrally at MEA. The sample tracking is coordinated by Luzia Weiss. Marker selection and coordinating shipment and laboratory work is conducted in cooperation with Martina Börsch-Supan.
