The KURE study is a community-based prospective cohort study on health, aging, and common geriatric disorders of Korean elderly persons aged at least 65 years. To construct a cohort reflecting both urban and rural areas, we selected 2 representative communities in the country. To establish multidisciplinary approaches to geriatric health, this study was performed by researchers in the divisions of geriatrics, preventive medicine, endocrinology, and sociology. The baseline examinations began in 2012; the study will follow more than 4,000 elderly Koreans over 10 years. The first and second follow-up health examinations will be performed every 4 years. Every 2 years after each health examination, inter-assessment interview will be conducted to improve participant retention.
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There are several strengths in this study. First, this is the cohort study for long follow-up time. Therefore, this study may assist in determining causal associations between predicted determinants of health and outcomes and be used to obtain trajectories of geriatric health over time [23, 24]. Second, this study has a large sample size, with a statistical power to detect mild to moderate associations. Third, the face-to-face interview method may be especially useful in obtaining accurate information, especially among the elderly who may not immediately understand or response the questionnaire. Fourth, this study recruited the elderly from both urban and rural areas. This will help us investigate geriatric health in different geographic and socioeconomic environments and life styles. Lastly, the KURE investigative team is multidisciplinary including experts in geriatrics, preventive medicine, infection and immunology, endocrinology, and sociology. This team approach may be helpful in developing a unique research resource for a multifaceted understanding of geriatric health. The major limitation of this study is to recruit only voluntary participants. This might cause selection bias and not completely represent the whole geriatric population in Korea. 2ff7e9595c
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