DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03792.v2
title: Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS) in Taiwan, 2000 and 2006
title: Version 2

description: The Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (SEBAS) in Taiwan, 2000 and 2006, provides information regarding the health and well-being of older persons in Taiwan. Taiwan has undergone rapid demographic, social, and economic changes, becoming a highly urbanized and industrial society with a growing population of persons age 65 or older. SEBAS explores the relationship between life challenges and mental and physical health, the impact of social environment on the health and well-being of the elderly, as well as biological markers of health and stress. The study collected self-reports of physical, psychological, and social well-being, plus extensive clinical data based on medical examinations and laboratory analyses. Examination of health outcomes included chronic illnesses, functional status, psychological well-being, and cognitive function. Questions regarding life challenges focused on perceived stress, economic difficulties, security and safety, and the consequences of a major earthquake. Biological markers were used to identify cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic process measures, immune-system activity, the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis, and sympathetic nervous system activity. Two rounds of biomarker data collected in 2000 and 2006 were complemented by face-to-face interviews with the participants. Demographic and background variables included age, sex, education, ethnicity, occupation, and residency. Additional information about the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study can be found at the Georgetown University Center for Populations and Health Web site.
description: This collection sought to examine the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of change in biological measures and health.
description: The data are not weighted. The SEBAS 2000 dataset contains a cross-sectional weight variable, WGT_EXAM. The SEBAS 2006 dataset contains two cross-sectional weight variables, WGT_1284 and WGT_1036, and two longitudinal weights, WGT_757 and WGT_639. Please refer to the ICPSR User Guide for additional information on weighting.
description: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Standardized missing values.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes..
description: Response Rates: The response rate for SEBAS 2000 was 92 percent and there was a response rate of 87 percent for SEBAS 2006. Please refer to the ICPSR User Guide for additional information on response rates.
description: Datasets: 
 
 DS0: Study-Level Files 
 DS1: SEBAS 2000 Longitudinal Data 
 DS2: SEBAS 2006 Longitudinal Data
description: cognitive assessment test, face-to-face interview, on-site questionnaire 
The data include multiple missing data designations. Please refer to the Original P.I. Documentation in the ICPSR Codebook for additional information on nonresponse codes regarding the coding of missing data before performing analysis.
All study documentation has been made publicly available for this study.
The variable RESPL_ID is a unique respondent identifier and can be used to link respondents between the 2000 SEBAS and 2006 SEBAS.
The variable QTYPE tells whether the respondent was drawn from the 1989 Elderly study sample (Cohort B), 1996 Near-Elderly study sample (Cohort A), or the 2003 Refresher sample (Cohort C) from the Taiwan Survey of Health and Living Status of the Near Elderly and Elderly.
The data for SEBAS 2000 contain the strata variable STRATA00, which describes the urban/rural groupings used in drawing the original sample. The data for SEBAS 2006 contain four strata variables: STRATA00, STRATA06, STRATA, and STRATURB. STRATA00 is the sampling stratum for 2000 SEBAS, and STRATA06 is the stratum of PSU in 2006. STRATA describes the urban/rural groupings used at the time of sampling, and STRATURB is the urban stratum for sampling purposes. Please refer to the ICPSR User Guide for additional sampling information.
 Additional information about the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study can be found at the Georgetown University Center for Populations and Health Web site.
description: All individuals in Taiwan aged 54 and older in 2000. A younger refresher cohort was added in 2006 of those aged 53-60.
description: SEBAS is an extension of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study of Aging (TLSA), which began in 1989 with follow-ups approximately every three years. The original 1989 sample was nationally representative of Taiwanese aged 60 and older, including the institutionalized population, and was drawn as a multi-stage probability sample. In 1996, the survey was expanded to include a sample of persons aged 50 to 66 (Cohort A), who were under-sampled relative to the original cohort (Cohort B). Thus the 1996 survey contains a sample of all Taiwanese aged 50 and above, who were then re-interviewed in 1999. In 2000, a national sub-sample of respondents to the 1999 wave of the TLSA was selected randomly for the SEBAS. The sampling plan was an extension of the original design implemented in 1989, with oversampling of urban residents. Thus, SEBAS 2000 represented a national sample of Taiwanese adults aged 54 and older. The SEBAS 2006 sample started with the SEBAS 2000 respondents who had completed both the interview and the health exam. In addition to this panel component, a refresher cohort of those aged 53-60 in 2006 (Cohort C) was added to ensure the SEBAS 2006 comprised a representative cross-section of the Taiwanese population aged 53 and older. Like in SEBAS 2000, urban residents were oversampled. The sampling fraction for Cohort C was the same as Cohort A, thus among all three cohorts in the SEBAS 2006, Cohort B (the oldest) is over-represented. Please refer to the ICPSR User Guide for additional sampling information.