The interview and medical examination are primarily intended to find out about possible changes in health status since the last examination. In addition, we can analyze which factors favor the occurrence of new diseases or the worsening of existing ones, and which factors have a protective effect.  Below you will find an outline of the planned examinations:

• Questionnaire/ Interview
• Tests of retentiveness and cognitive performance
• Blood pressure measurement and pulse wave analysis
• Height, weight, other body measurements and body composition
• Mobility and balance tests
• Hand grip strength and physical activity
• Blood samples
• Urine samples
• Stool sample
• ECG
• Echocardiography

The study is conducted by the Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometry and Informatics at the Medical Faculty of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in collaboration with the University Hospital and Polyclinic for Internal Medicine III (Cardiology, Angiology) of the University Hospital Halle, the Interdisciplinary Center for Ageing Halle (IZAH) of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and various other institutes of the Medical Faculty.

Our study staff includes health scientists (epidemiologists, biostatisticians), physicians, specially trained medical and laboratory personnel, interviewers and medical documentalists.

All data collected during the course of the study will be transferred to a database located on a research server at the Medical Faculty. Access to the research server is only allowed to authorized personnel.

Person-identifying data (name, address) will be stored separately from the study results and can only be linked by an identification number. The merging of your examination data from baseline and follow-up examinations also takes place exclusively via this identification number assigned to you, not via name and address. The examination results and questionnaire data are evaluated without reference to the identifying personal data (anonymous). The results of the study are only presented in a summarized form as a comparison of groups of persons.

If we would like to contact you at a later date because we have queries, because we would like to inform you about important findings or in order to invite you to further follow-up studies or follow-up projects, we will use your separately stored address data. Address data will not be deleted until 10 years after completion of the long-term overall project.

In order to better assess the influence of certain risk factors on the development and progression of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, it is important to monitor the health status of the population over a longer period of time. Therefore, we would also like to ask you now that we may inquire about your health status with you or your treating physicians at a later date, if necessary.

Your participation in the study is voluntary, and you have the option of withdrawing your consent at any time without incurring any disadvantages.

All data will be treated strictly confidentially and will only be used for the stated research purpose. All study staff handling your data will be bound by the data protection regulations of the State Data Protection Act and are subject to medical confidentiality. The procedure of data collection and processing has been coordinated with the responsible state commissioner for data protection.

Your data will only be evaluated in anonymized form (separately from personal data). No personal data will be passed on to third parties.

Many examinations cannot be performed immediately, but only at a later time. Some of the examinations are only carried out in specially selected groups that can only be selected on the basis of other examinations.

In addition, we would like to be able to use examination methods developed on the basis of new scientific findings or possibly investigate newly discovered risk factors for chronic diseases at a later date.

If you have any questions about the study, please do not hesitate to contact our staff:

CARLA Study Center:

Phone number: 0345 557-3588

Address: Magdeburger Str. 16

                06112 Halle (Saale)

The study is funded by public sources. Use of your data for commercial purposes is excluded.

The baseline survey and subsequent studies were funded and supported by the Collaborative Research Center 598 “Heart Failure in Old Age: Cellular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Intervention” of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and additional funding from the DFG, the Wilhelm-Roux Program of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, the Employment Office, and the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt.

The currently ongoing 3rd follow-up study is funded by the EU and the state of Saxony-Anhalt within the framework of the EFRE/ESF funding program. The project with the identifier “BIOSALSA” belongs to the interdisciplinary research network “Autonomy in old age”.