Cohort profile: Oxford Pain, Activity and Lifestyle (OPAL) Study, a prospective cohort study of older adults in England

Sanchez Santos, Maria T, Williamson, Esther, Bruce, Julie, Ward, Lesley, Mallen, Christian D, Garrett, Angela, Morris, Alana and Lamb, Sarah E (2020) Cohort profile: Oxford Pain, Activity and Lifestyle (OPAL) Study, a prospective cohort study of older adults in England. BMJ Open, 10 (9). e037516. ISSN 2044-6055

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037516

Abstract

Purpose The 'Oxford Pain, Activity and Lifestyle' (OPAL) Cohort is a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of adults, aged 65 years and older, living in the community which is investigating the determinants of health in later life. Our focus was on musculoskeletal pain and mobility, but the cohort is designed with flexibility to include new elements over time. This paper describes the study design, data collection and baseline characteristics of participants. We also compared the OPAL baseline characteristics with nationally representative data sources. Participants We randomly selected eligible participants from two stratified age bands (65-74 and 75 and over years). In total, 5409 individuals (42.1% of eligible participants) from 35 general practices in England agreed to participate between 2016 and 2018. The majority of participants (n=5367) also consented for research team to access their UK National Health Service (NHS) Digital and primary healthcare records. Findings to date Mean participant age was 74.9 years (range 65-100); 51.5% (n=2784/5409) were women. 94.9% of participants were white, and 28.8% lived alone. Over 83.0% reported pain in at least one body area in the previous 6 weeks. Musculoskeletal symptoms were more prevalent in women (86.4%). One-third of participants reported having one or more falls in the last year. Most participants were confident in their ability to walk outside. The characteristics of OPAL Cohort participants were broadly similar to the general population of the same age. Future plans Postal follow-up of the cohort is being undertaken at annual intervals, with data collection ongoing. Linkage to NHS hospital admission data is planned. This English prospective cohort offers a large and rich resource for research on the longitudinal associations between demographic, clinical, and social factors and health trajectories and outcomes in community-dwelling older people.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding Information: Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the individuals who participated in The Oxford Pain, Activity and Lifestyle Cohort Study, the general practitioners and their staff for assisting with the identification and invitation of eligible individuals and the National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford for funding this study (grant reference PTC-RP-PG-0213-20002). Collaborators OPAL Study Team: Conway O, Darton F, Dutton S, Hagan D, Haywood D, Hewitt A, Marian I, Nevay L, Nicolson P, Slark M, Vadher K, Watson M, Williamson E, Arden N, Barker K, Collins G, Fairbank J, Fitch J, French D, Griffiths F, Hanson Z, Hutchinson C, Petrou S. OPAL General Practice Team: Grange Hill Surgery, Birmingham; Gosford Hill Medical Centre, Oxford; River Brook Medical Centre, Birmingham; The Key Medical Practice, Oxford; Summertown Health Centre, Oxford; Alconbury and Brampton Surgeries, Cambridgeshire; Old Exchange Surgery, Cambridgeshire; The Wand Medical Centre, Birmingham; Kingsfield Medical Centre, Birmingham; Buckden and Little Paxton Surgery, Cambridgeshire; Temple Cowley Medical Group, Oxford; Keynell Covert Surgery, Birmingham; Burbury Medical Centre, Birmingham; Hollow Way Medical Centre, Oxford; Priory View Medical Centre, Leeds; Newton Surgery, Leeds; Priory Fields Surgery, Cambridgeshire, Cromwell Place Surgery, Cambridgeshire; Craven Road Medical Centre, Leeds; Queslett Medical Practice, Birmingham; Hall Street Medical Centre, Saint Helens; Vauxhall Health Centre, Liverpool; Ireland Wood Surgery, Leeds; Civic Medical Centre, Wirral; Brownlow Group Practice, Liverpool; Wareham Surgery, Dorset; The Adam Practice, Poole; The Harvey Practice, Dorset; Three Chequers Medical Practice, Salisbury; Gate Medical Centre, Birmingham; Rendcomb Surgery, Cirencester; Cotswold Medical Practice, Cheltenham; Brigstock and South Norwood Partnership, Croydon; Portland Practice, Gloucestershire; Eversley Medical Centre, Croydon. Supporting the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Networks: Thames Valley and South Midlands, Eastern; Yorkshire and the Humber, North West Coast; Wessex, West of England; West Midlands, South London. Funding Information: Competing interests All authors have completed the Unified Competing Interest form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf. JB reports grant funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Diabetes Research UK and Medtronic. CDM reports grants from NIHR, during the conduct of the study. SEL reports and declared competing interests of authors: SEL was on the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Additional Capacity Funding Board, HTA End of Life Care and Add-on Studies Board, HTA Prioritisation Group Board and the HTA Trauma Board. All other authors declare no conflicts of interest. Funding Information: Funding This research is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research (reference: PTC-RP-PG-0213-20002). Preparatory work for the programme of research was supported by the NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care. CDM is funded by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (West Midlands), the NIHR School for Primary Care Research and an NIHR Research Professorship in General Practice (NIHR-RP-2014-04-026). JB is supported from NIHR Research Capability Funding via University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.
Uncontrolled Keywords: epidemiology, geriatric medicine, musculoskeletal disorders, primary care
Subjects: A300 Clinical Medicine
A900 Others in Medicine and Dentistry
B100 Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology
B900 Others in Subjects allied to Medicine
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation
Depositing User: Rachel Branson
Date Deposited: 23 Feb 2021 09:58
Last Modified: 31 Jul 2021 15:04
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/45514

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