Lausanne cohort 65+ (Lc65+) study

To better understand and prevent frailty as early as age 65

The Lausanne cohort 65+ (Lc65+) study is a research platform that aims to gain new knowledge on frailty in the general population from the age of 65 years onwards. Manifestations of frailty, medical and psycho-social risk factors, and the effects of frailty on health, functional status, and use of health services are central to the research conducted in the Lc65+ project.

The Lc65+ study was launched in 2004 by Prof. Brigitte Santos-Eggimann within the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP) of the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). When the Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté) was created on 1st January 2019, the Lc65+ study was integrated into this new institution.

The cohort is based on a representative sample of residents of the city of Lausanne (canton Vaud, Switzerland, 120’000 inhabitants) born before, during, at the end of World War II, and in the middle of the baby-boom generation.

In the long term, this public health project aims to improve the quality of life of older persons by early prevention of frailty and its adverse consequences.

The main objectives

Compare

To compare health evolution and health care service utilization from age 65 onwards in three consecutive samples issued from the general population

Compare

Understand

To improve our understanding of the frailty process and its consequences, as well as related needs for care, based on longitudinal data

Understand

Prevent

To design preventive interventions aimed at avoiding or delaying unfavorable outcomes in older age

Prevent

The Lausanne cohort 65+ study also contributes to the Vaud health information system, either directly or through complementary surveys integrated into this platform. It aligns with the Vieillir2030 cantonal policy.

The complementary surveys include:

  • Gait measurement using the Physilog system (2005–2018, in collaboration with the Service de gériatrie et réadaptation gériatrique, CHUV, and the Laboratoire de mesure et d’analyse des mouvements, EPFL)
  • The Vaud-Geneva Quality of Life Study (2011)
  • The survey on the new adult protection law (2014, in collaboration with the Service de gériatrie et réadaptation gériatrique, CHUV)
  • Household dust collection (2014–2016, in collaboration with the Institut universitaire romand de Santé au Travail)
  • The complementary survey on care (2012, 2017)
  • Coronavirus and lockdown experience (2020)