Table 1

Description of health variables across each of four domains (cognitive, neural, physical, mental)

Health domainTask and descriptionVariableDescriptivesReferences
CognitiveStory Recall Immediate:
participants hear a short story and are asked to recall as accurately as possible.
Recall manually scored for similarity and precision (min=0, max=24)n=2379, M=13.14, SD=4.66, range=0–24 92
CognitiveStory Recall Delayed:
same as above but recall after 30 min delay
Recall manually scored for similarity and precision (min=0, max=24)n=2366, M=11.47, SD=4.92, range=0–24 92
CognitiveLetter Fluency (phonemic fluency):
participants have 1 min to generate as many words as possible beginning with the letter ‘p’.
Total words generated (min=0,max=30)n=2360, M=25.38, SD=3.96, range=0–30 92
CognitiveAnimal Fluency (semantic fluency):
participants have 1 min to generate as many words as possible in the category ‘animals’.
Total words generated (min=0,max=30)n=2346, M=25.85, SD=4.47, range=0–30 92
CognitiveCattell Culture Fair:
test of fluid reasoning using four subtests (series completions, odd one out, matrices and topology)
Total correct summed across four subtests (min=0, max=46)n=658, M=31.8, SD=6.79, range=11–44 93
CognitiveSimple reaction time:
speed in a simple reaction time task
1/response time in secondsn=657, M=0.37, SD=0.08, range=0.24–0.93 12
CognitiveAddenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination, Revised:
screening test for dementia using seven subtests (orientation, attention and concentration, memory, fluency, language, visuospatial abilities, perceptual abilities)
Performance on multiple tests converted to min=0, max=100 rangen=2406, M=89.25, SD=13.4, range=0–100 24
NeuralWhite matter health:
measure of tract integrity using fractional anisotropy
Fractional anisotropy (min=0, max=1, averaged across 10 tracts)n=641, M=0.5, SD=0.03, range=0.3–0.56 73
PhysicalSelf-reported health, in general:
participants use a four-point scale to respond to the prompt “Would you say for someone of your age, your own health in general is…”
Score from 1=excellent to 4=poorn=2404, M=2.02, SD=0.79, range=1–31–3 94
PhysicalSelf-reported health, last 12 months:
participants use a three-point scale to respond to the prompt “Over the last twelve months would you say your health has on the whole been…”
Score from 1=good to 3=poorn=2398, M=1.46, SD=0.71, range=1–31–3 94
PhysicalSystolic blood pressureMean systolic blood pressure in mm Hg, averaged across three consecutive measurementsn=577, M=120.11, SD=17, range=78.5–186
PhysicalDiastolic blood pressureMean diastolic blood pressure in mm Hg, averaged across three consecutive measurementsn=577, M=73.14, SD=10.48, range=49–115.5
PhysicalResting pulseMean pulse in beats per minute, averaged across three consecutive measurementsn=578, M=65.69, SD=10.5, range=40–110.5
PhysicalBody Mass Index (BMI)(weight in kg)/(height in m2)n=584, M=25.77, SD=4.59, range=16.75–48.32 95
Mental healthAnxiety Subscale (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)):
participant’s response to seven questions about anxiety-related behaviours
Seven questions rated on 0–3 scale (‘often’ to ‘very seldom’) (min=0, max=21)n=2391, M=5.13, SD=3.31, range=0–17 56
Mental healthDepression Subscale (HADS): participant’s response to seven questions about depression-related behavioursSeven questions rated on 0–3 scale (‘often’ to ‘very seldom’) (min=0, max=21)n=2373, M=3.32, SD=2.91, range=0–14
  • For each variable, details are given including a description of the task it is derived from, relevant citations, a brief definition and descriptive statistics.