Icons / Login Created with Sketch.
Icons / User Created with Sketch.

Survey timeline and participant numbers

ALSWH began in 1996, when over 14,000 women aged 18-23 (born 1973-78), over 13,500 women aged 45-50 (born 1946-51) and just under 12,500 women aged 70-75 (born 1921-26) completed their first survey. Surveys are generally conducted in a three yearly cycle – e.g., the 1946-51 cohort completed Survey 2 in 1998, the 1921-26 cohort completed their Survey 2 in 1999, and the 1973-78 cohort in 2000. From November 2011 the oldest cohort, women born 1921-26, have been surveyed at six-monthly intervals. A new cohort of young women, aged 18-23 (born 1989-95), was recruited in 2013. This cohort was surveyed annually from 2013 – 2018 (Surveys 1 -6). Survey 7 will be deployed in 2023 and will follow a three yearly cycle thereafter.

Timeline of surveys since 1996

Cohort1989-951973-781946-511921-26
Survey 1Year (age range)2013 (18-23)1996 (18-23)1996 (45-50)1996 (70-75)
Respondents (N)17010142471371412432
Survey 2Year (age range)2014 (19-24)2000 (22-27)1998 (47-52)1999 (73-78)
Respondents (N)1134496881233810434
Survey 3Year (age range)2015 (20-25)2003 (25-30)2001 (50-55)2002 (76-81)
Respondents (N)89619081112268646
Survey 4Year (age range)2016 (21-26)2006 (28-33)2004 (53-58)2005 (79-84)
Respondents (N)90079145109057158
Survey 5Year (age range)2017 (22-27)2009 (31-36)2007 (56-61)2008 (82-87)
Respondents (N)84958199106385560
Survey 6Year (age range)2019 (24-29)2012 (34-39)2010 (59-64)2011 (85-90)
Respondents (N)83468009100114055
Survey 7Year (age range)2023 (28-33)2015 (37-42)2013 (62-67)Surveyed at six
monthly intervals
from November 2011
(see next table)
Respondents (N)in progress71869151
Survey 8Year (age range)2018 (40-45)2016 (65-70)
Respondents (N)71218622
Survey 9Year (age range)2021 (43-49*)2019 (68-73)
Respondents (N)68757956
Survey 10Year (age range)2024 (46-51)2022 (71-77)
Respondents (N)in progress7159
This table shows the number of participants for each survey, completed by each Study cohort.
Data known as at 12 September 2024.

*This is more than the usual 5 year age range because the survey was open for 17 months due to COVID-19.

1921-26 Cohort: Six-monthly Follow-up (6MF)

From November 2011, shorter surveys (commonly known as 6MF) containing a set of core questions were mailed to the 1921-26 cohort every six months after the return of the previous survey. The survey itself is available for download from the ALSWH website at https://alswh.org.au/for-data-users/data-documentation/surveys/.

The core items covered in this short 6MF survey are 29 questions on SF-36 health, aged-related issues, activities of daily living, physical activity, care needs, and demographics. These surveys are available as the 1921-26 cohort survey 7 dataset and contains more than 28,000 records: one for each survey completed by each participant at each wave.
The data book for this dataset is available to download from the ALSWH website at https://alswh.org.au/for-data-users/data-documentation/data-books/.

This six-monthly survey has no finish date and therefore we continue to receive surveys for each wave. However, the surveys available in the dataset are limited by the number of responses being received at each wave. For this reason, the available 1921-26 cohort survey 7 dataset stops at wave 21.

1921-26 Cohort: number of respondents for each six-monthly follow up (6MF)

SurveyTotal (N)Year submitted:2011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Age range (years):85-9086-9187-9288-9389-9490-9591-9692-9893-9994-10095-10196-10297-103
6MF1385528299455913241200000
6MF233953069248451481531100
6MF32993165111789633168641000
6MF426232216292572781254200
6MF52311921116913341161377310
6MF620321591299643318118530
6MF71780595985110352989630
6MF8155611293115228179730
6MF9137643973713333149650
6MF101215823285552317750
6MF1110642606121244415522
6MF129115692525422860
6MF1377816047796231930
6MF146734131943817101
6MF155551163297124132
6MF1646127413934122
6MF173747922451155
6MF18304170103274
6MF1924243155431
6MF201921106913
6MF21137269120
6MF22855629
6MF2330822
Each row shows the total number of respondents, followed by the number of responses made each year, for each individual wave.

Years each cohort was surveyed

Cohort1921‑261946‑511973‑781989‑95
Survey 11996199619962013
Survey 21999199820002014
Survey 32002200120032015
Survey 42005200420062016
Survey 52008200720092017
Survey 62011201020122019
Survey 7*201320152023
Survey 820162018
Survey 920192021
Survey 1020222024

*Surveyed at six monthly intervals from November 2011

Age range of cohort at each survey

Cohort1921‑261946‑511973‑781989‑95
Survey 170-7545-5018-2318-23
Survey 273-7847-5222-2719-24
Survey 376-8150-5525-3020-25
Survey 479-8453-5828-3321-26
Survey 582-8756-6131-3622-27
Survey 685-9059-6434-3923-28
Survey 7*62-6737-42^
Survey 865-7040-45
Survey 968-7343-49
Survey 1071-77^

*Surveyed at six monthly intervals from November 2011
^Surveys still in progress

Number of respondents per survey

Cohort
1921‑26
1946‑51
1973‑78
1989‑95
Survey 112432137141424717011
Survey 21043412338968811344
Survey 386461122690818961
Survey 471581090591459007
Survey 555601063881998495
Survey 640551001180098346
Survey 7*91517186^
Survey 886227121
Survey 979566875
Survey 107159^

*Surveyed at six monthly intervals from November 2011
^Surveys still in progress