Design and Methodology of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD).

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES To provide high-quality data on older adults in India that will enable an in-depth study of late-life cognition and dementia in India and cross-country analysis of risk factors for cognitive aging and dementia. DESIGN The Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI) is a nationally representative survey of health, economic, and social well-being of the Indian population aged 45 and older. Its large sample of more than 70,000 older adults represents not only the country as a whole but also each state. LASI-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (DAD) is an in-depth study of late-life cognition and dementia, drawing a subsample of over 3,000 LASI respondents aged 60 and older. SETTING Participants were interviewed at home or in a participating hospital according to their preferences. PARTICIPANTS Adults aged 60 and older (N = 3,224), along with 3,191 informants. MEASUREMENTS Respondents underwent a battery of cognitive tests, and informants were interviewed about their cognitive and health conditions. A common set of cognitive tests was selected to enable international comparisons, and additional cognitive tests suitable for illiterate and innumerate populations were also selected. Rich data on risk factors of dementia were collected through health examination, venous blood assays, and genotyping. RESULTS The response rate was 82.9%, varying across sex, education, and urbanicity. Data are available to other researchers. CONCLUSION LASI-DAD provides an opportunity to study late-life cognition and dementia and their risk factors in the older population in India and to gain further insights through cross-country analysis by pooling data from its international sister studies. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:S5-S10, 2020.