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
Cohort | 1989-95 | 1973-78 | 1946-51 | 1921-26 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Survey 1 | Year (age range) | 2013 (18-23) | 1996 (18-23) | 1996 (45-50) | 1996 (70-75) |
Respondents (N) | 17010 | 14247 | 13714 | 12432 | |
Survey 2 | Year (age range) | 2014 (19-24) | 2000 (22-27) | 1998 (47-52) | 1999 (73-78) |
Respondents (N) | 11344 | 9688 | 12338 | 10434 | |
Survey 3 | Year (age range) | 2015 (20-25) | 2003 (25-30) | 2001 (50-55) | 2002 (76-81) |
Respondents (N) | 8961 | 9081 | 11226 | 8646 | |
Survey 4 | Year (age range) | 2016 (21-26) | 2006 (28-33) | 2004 (53-58) | 2005 (79-84) |
Respondents (N) | 9007 | 9145 | 10905 | 7158 | |
Survey 5 | Year (age range) | 2017 (22-27) | 2009 (31-36) | 2007 (56-61) | 2008 (82-87) |
Respondents (N) | 8495 | 8199 | 10638 | 5560 | |
Survey 6 | Year (age range) | 2019 (24-29) | 2012 (34-39) | 2010 (59-64) | 2011 (85-90) |
Respondents (N) | 8346 | 8009 | 10011 | 4055 | |
Survey 7 | Year (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 progress | 7186 | 9151 | ||
Survey 8 | Year (age range) | 2018 (40-45) | 2016 (65-70) | ||
Respondents (N) | 7121 | 8622 | |||
Survey 9 | Year (age range) | 2021 (43-49*) | 2019 (68-73) | ||
Respondents (N) | 6875 | 7956 | |||
Survey 10 | Year (age range) | 2024 (46-51) | 2022 (71-77) | ||
Respondents (N) | in progress | 7159 |
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)
Survey | Total (N) | Year submitted: | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age range (years): | 85-90 | 86-91 | 87-92 | 88-93 | 89-94 | 90-95 | 91-96 | 92-98 | 93-99 | 94-100 | 95-101 | 96-102 | 97-103 | ||
6MF1 | 3855 | 2829 | 945 | 59 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6MF2 | 3395 | 3069 | 248 | 45 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
6MF3 | 2993 | 1651 | 1178 | 96 | 33 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
6MF4 | 2623 | 2216 | 292 | 57 | 27 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||
6MF5 | 2311 | 921 | 1169 | 133 | 41 | 16 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | |||
6MF6 | 2032 | 1591 | 299 | 64 | 33 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | ||||
6MF7 | 1780 | 595 | 985 | 110 | 35 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | ||||
6MF8 | 1556 | 1129 | 311 | 52 | 28 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 0 | |||||
6MF9 | 1376 | 439 | 737 | 133 | 33 | 14 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 0 | |||||
6MF10 | 1215 | 823 | 285 | 55 | 23 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 0 | ||||||
6MF11 | 1064 | 260 | 612 | 124 | 44 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
6MF12 | 911 | 569 | 252 | 54 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 0 | |||||||
6MF13 | 778 | 160 | 477 | 96 | 23 | 19 | 3 | 0 | |||||||
6MF14 | 673 | 413 | 194 | 38 | 17 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||
6MF15 | 555 | 116 | 329 | 71 | 24 | 13 | 2 | ||||||||
6MF16 | 461 | 274 | 139 | 34 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||
6MF17 | 374 | 79 | 224 | 51 | 15 | 5 | |||||||||
6MF18 | 304 | 170 | 103 | 27 | 4 | ||||||||||
6MF19 | 242 | 43 | 155 | 43 | 1 | ||||||||||
6MF20 | 192 | 110 | 69 | 13 | |||||||||||
6MF21 | 137 | 26 | 91 | 20 | |||||||||||
6MF22 | 85 | 56 | 29 | ||||||||||||
6MF23 | 30 | 8 | 22 |
Years each cohort was surveyed
Cohort | 1921‑26 | 1946‑51 | 1973‑78 | 1989‑95 |
Survey 1 | 1996 | 1996 | 1996 | 2013 |
Survey 2 | 1999 | 1998 | 2000 | 2014 |
Survey 3 | 2002 | 2001 | 2003 | 2015 |
Survey 4 | 2005 | 2004 | 2006 | 2016 |
Survey 5 | 2008 | 2007 | 2009 | 2017 |
Survey 6 | 2011 | 2010 | 2012 | 2019 |
Survey 7 | * | 2013 | 2015 | 2023 |
Survey 8 | 2016 | 2018 | ||
Survey 9 | 2019 | 2021 | ||
Survey 10 | 2022 | 2024 |
*Surveyed at six monthly intervals from November 2011
Age range of cohort at each survey
Cohort | 1921‑26 | 1946‑51 | 1973‑78 | 1989‑95 |
Survey 1 | 70-75 | 45-50 | 18-23 | 18-23 |
Survey 2 | 73-78 | 47-52 | 22-27 | 19-24 |
Survey 3 | 76-81 | 50-55 | 25-30 | 20-25 |
Survey 4 | 79-84 | 53-58 | 28-33 | 21-26 |
Survey 5 | 82-87 | 56-61 | 31-36 | 22-27 |
Survey 6 | 85-90 | 59-64 | 34-39 | 23-28 |
Survey 7 | * | 62-67 | 37-42 | ^ |
Survey 8 | 65-70 | 40-45 | ||
Survey 9 | 68-73 | 43-49 | ||
Survey 10 | 71-77 | ^ |
*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 1 | 12432 | 13714 | 14247 | 17011 |
Survey 2 | 10434 | 12338 | 9688 | 11344 |
Survey 3 | 8646 | 11226 | 9081 | 8961 |
Survey 4 | 7158 | 10905 | 9145 | 9007 |
Survey 5 | 5560 | 10638 | 8199 | 8495 |
Survey 6 | 4055 | 10011 | 8009 | 8346 |
Survey 7 | * | 9151 | 7186 | ^ |
Survey 8 | 8622 | 7121 | ||
Survey 9 | 7956 | 6875 | ||
Survey 10 | 7159 | ^ |
*Surveyed at six monthly intervals from November 2011
^Surveys still in progress