Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS)

NCT ID: NCT01323322

Last Updated: 2026-01-28

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Total Enrollment

3720 participants

Study Classification

OBSERVATIONAL

Study Start Date

2009-07-01

Brief Summary

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The Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study is an interdisciplinary, community-based, prospective longitudinal epidemiologic study examining the influences of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on the development of age-related health disparities among socioeconomically diverse African Americans and whites in Baltimore. This study investigates whether health disparities develop or persist due to differences in SES, differences in race, or their interaction. HANDLS is unique because it assesses physical parameters as well as evaluating genetic, biologic, demographic, and psychosocial parameters of African American and white participants over a wide range of socioeconomic statuses, longitudinally. HANDLS also employs novel research tools, mobile medical research vehicles, in hopes of improving participation rates and retention among non-traditional research participants. The domains of the HANDLS study include: nutrition, cognition, biologic biomarkers, body composition and bone quality, physical function and performance, psychology, genomics, neighborhood environment and cardiovascular disease. Utilizing data from these study domains will facilitate an understanding of selected underlying factors of persistent black-white health disparities in overall longevity, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline.

HANDLS recruited a fixed cohort as an area probability sample of Baltimore City from August 2004 through November 2009 as Wave 1. HANDLS Wave 2 entitled The Association of Personality and Socioeconomic status with Health Status - An Interim Follow-up Study began in June 2006 under a separate protocol. It was designed as a follow-up telephone interview approximately 18 months after the initial examination (Wave 1) was complete. Wave 2 provided interim contact with study participants, and important interim information regarding their health. Now completed, waves 3, 4 and 5 were follow-up examinations visits to our mobile Medical Research Vehicles (MRVs). In September 2020, HANDLS initiated wave 6; telephone interviews and limited in-person visits as a COVID-centric protocol. The current protocol outlines Wave 7, the fourth follow-up examination and the participants' fifth visit to our mobile Medical Research Vehicles (MRVs). Planned as a follow-up after 3-4 years, Wave 7 consists of health examinations, questionnaires, sensory assessments (visual and olfactory), health literacy assessment, renal function assessments, environmental assessments, and for a sub-set of participants; structural MRIs, a personality inventory and an examination of sleep and cognition under separate protocols. HANDLS will resume in-person examinations with wave 7 in which we will prioritize contacting participants who were not seen in wave 5.

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Detailed Description

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The Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study is an interdisciplinary, community-based, prospective longitudinal epidemiologic study examining the influences of race and socioeconomic status (SES) on the development of age-related health disparities among socioeconomically diverse African Americans and whites in Baltimore. This study investigates whether health disparities develop or persist due to differences in SES, differences in race, or their interaction. HANDLS is unique because it assesses physical parameters as well as evaluating genetic, biologic, demographic, and psychosocial parameters of African American and white participants over a wide range of socioeconomic statuses, longitudinally. HANDLS also employs novel research tools, mobile medical research vehicles, in hopes of improving participation rates and retention among non-traditional research participants. The domains of the HANDLS study include: nutrition, cognition, biologic biomarkers, body composition and bone quality, physical function and performance, psychology, genomics, neighborhood environment and cardiovascular disease. Utilizing data from these study domains will facilitate an understanding of selected underlying factors of persistent black-white health disparities in overall longevity, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline.

HANDLS recruited a fixed cohort as an area probability sample of Baltimore City from August 2004 through November 2009 as Wave 1. HANDLS Wave 2 entitled The Association of Personality and Socioeconomic status with Health Status An Interim Follow-up Study began in June 2006 under a separate protocol. It was designed as a follow-up telephone interview approximately 18 months after the initial examination (Wave 1) was complete. Wave 2 provided interim contact with study participants, and important interim information regarding their health. Now completed, waves 3, 4 and 5 were follow-up examinations visits to our mobile Medical Research Vehicles (MRVs). In September 2020, HANDLS initiated wave 6; telephone interviews and limited in-person visits as a COVID-centric protocol. The current protocol outlines Wave 7, the fourth follow-up examination and the participants fifth visit to our mobile Medical Research Vehicles (MRVs). Planned as a follow-up after 3-4 years, Wave 7 consists of health examinations, questionnaires, sensory assessments (visual and olfactory), health literacy assessment, renal function assessments, environmental assessments, and for a sub-set of participants; structural MRIs, a personality inventory and an examination of sleep and cognition under separate protocols. HANDLS will resume in-person examinations with wave 7 in which we will prioritize contacting participants who were not seen in wave 5.

Conditions

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Diabetes Cerebrovascular Disease Age-Associated Decline Cardiovascular Disease

Study Design

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Observational Model Type

COHORT

Study Time Perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

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HANDLS

A fixed cohort as an area probability sample of Baltimore City from August 2004 through November 2009.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Verified HANDLS participants (age 30-64 at baseline recruitment)
* Able to give informed consent (or have a legal designee); and
* Must have valid picture identification.

Exclusion Criteria

* Pregnancy
* Current cancer chemotherapy or radiation therapy
* Positive COVID test at point of care testing on examination visit date.
Minimum Eligible Age

30 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

64 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Maryland, Baltimore

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Johns Hopkins University

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Delaware

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

US Department of Housing and Urban Development

FED

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Michele K Evans, M.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Locations

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National Institute of Aging, Clinical Research Unit

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Evans MK, Zonderman AB. Health Equity through Clinical Research - Meeting the Challenge of Inclusion. NEJM Evid. 2023 Jun;2(6):EVIDctw2300015. doi: 10.1056/EVIDctw2300015. Epub 2023 May 23.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38320133 (View on PubMed)

Claudel SE, Shiroma EJ, Harris TB, Mode NA, Ahuja C, Zonderman AB, Evans MK, Powell-Wiley TM. Cross-Sectional Associations of Neighborhood Perception, Physical Activity, and Sedentary Time in Community-Dwelling, Socioeconomically Diverse Adults. Front Public Health. 2019 Sep 13;7:256. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00256. eCollection 2019.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 31572702 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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09-AG-N248

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: secondary_id

999909248

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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