Partner Institute
St John’s Medical College & Hospital/ St John’s Research Institute/ St John’s Geriatric Centre.
The “SOHAM Cohort Study” emerges against the backdrop of the global imperative of Healthy Ageing, a concern shared by India, where the absence of precise tools to identify “healthy ageing” individuals impedes the understanding of factors contributing to chronic diseases in this demographic. With India’s elderly population projected to grow significantly, reaching 12% by 2025 and nearly 20% by 2050, the need for a comprehensive, locally adapted tool covering all domains and biomarkers to identify “Healthy Ageing” is paramount.
This initiative aims to address this gap and contribute to the development of effective prevention strategies, ultimately reducing avoidable ill health in the ageing population. Over the past year, significant progress has been made in the project. The conceptualization and planning of the study, including defining its scope, objectives, and methodology, have been completed.
The design of the “SOHAM Study” has been finalized, comprising two parts: the drafting, enriching, refining and validating of the Healthy Aging Tool – India (HAT-I) in Part 1, and the longitudinal follow-up of a large number of subjects assessed with the HAT-I tool for aging trajectory analysis in Part 2. Ethical clearance for the research project has been obtained, and a diverse team of professionals have been assembled through staff recruitment. The team has undergone intensive training to ensure data accuracy and competence. The project has achieved several milestones, including the completion of drafting, enrichment, and refinement components of the study. The qualitative study has been submitted as a manuscript, and the recruitment process for the validation study has been initiated.