The Greatest Generation: The NAS-NRC WWII Twin Registry as a Scientific Resource

描述（由申请人提供）：在此申请中，我们提议启动一个包括美国国家科学院-国家研究委员会第二次世界大战双胞胎登记处（NAS-NRC双胞胎登记处）的数据档案，以便为科学界提供这一独特的资源。我们用汤姆·布罗考的标签“最伟大的一代”来描述这份名单上的男人。因此，虽然这是一项针对退伍军人的研究，但它实际上是一项针对一群人成年后的研究。这种环境使得注册表的保存更加重要，因为它代表了一代人。此应用程序包含完整的拟议归档项目的第一阶段。双胞胎登记包括15,924对出生于1917-1927年的白人男性双胞胎，其中两人都曾在军队服役。美国国家科学院的医疗随访机构（MFUA）目前可获得的数据包括服务摘要记录、服务期间至1984年的医疗诊断、从20世纪60年代开始的40年邮寄流行病学问卷、教育、职业、收入、家庭组成、休闲活动和个性。对于至少4800个人，有[陆军]一般分类测试分数作为认知能力的衡量标准。我们会更新所有双胞胎的事实和死因。在此申请期间，所有这些数据将被存入位于密歇根大学的国家老龄化计算机数据档案馆（NACDA）的数据档案中。选定的双胞胎还参与了子研究，其中的数据包括认知和各种复杂疾病的筛查，亲自体检和结果诊断，以及基因分型。我们已经获得了许多进行这些项目的研究人员的同意，在此资助期间，我们将制定具体的计划，随后将这些数据纳入档案。我们还将初步开展与医疗保险和社会保障记录挂钩的试点工作。最后，我们将使用MFUA已经在缩微胶片上的信息，并探索其他信息来源，以创建男性战争经历和暴露于战斗的措施。我们将使用这些数据来解决以下说明性研究问题：(a)我们将测试相对于戒酒和酗酒，适度饮酒是否能预防心血管疾病和糖尿病。如果有保护作用，我们将测试它是否与酒精的直接作用一致，还是由未测量的遗传和环境因素或可测量的生活方式因素（如饮食和体育活动）介导。(b)对这对双胞胎样本的纵向分析将使我们能够将遗传和早期生活条件分开，从而看到晚年生活环境和轨迹的独立影响。例如，我们将评估在整个生命周期中健康结果和寿命方面的社会经济和认知差异。了解入伍时的教育，根据《退伍军人法案》获得的后续教育，以及一生的收入流，我们可以看看这些因素是如何与治疗过的医疗状况和生命长度相关的。这些仅仅说明了数据的丰富性，以及其他科学家在创建数据档案时能够开展的工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this application, we propose to initiate a data archive comprising the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council World War II Twin Registry (NAS-NRC Twin Registry) in order to make this unique resource available to the scientific community. We apply Tom Brokaw's label "The Greatest Generation" to describe the men in this registry. Thus, while this is a study of veterans, it is actually a study of a cohort over its adult lifetime. This context makes the preservation of the registry more vital, as it is representative of a generation. This application encompasses the first stages of the complete proposed archiving project. The twin registry includes 15,924 white male twin pairs born 1917-1927 in which both members of the pair were in the military. Data currently available at the Medical Follow-up Agency (MFUA) at the National Academies include abstracted service records, medical diagnoses from the period of service through 1984, 40 years of mailed epidemiological questionnaires beginning in the 1960s, education, occupation, earnings, family composition, leisure activities, and personality. For at least 4800 individuals, there are [Army] General Classification Test scores as a measure of cognitive ability. We will update fact and cause of death for all of the twins. During the period of this application, all of these data will be deposited to initiate a data archive located at the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging (NACDA) at the University of Michigan. Selected twins have also participated in sub-studies where data include screening for cognition and various complex diseases, in-person medical examinations and resulting diagnoses, and genotyping. We have secured the agreement of many of the researchers conducting these projects and during this grant period we will develop specific plans subsequently to bring these data into the archive. We will also do pilot work preliminary to linking to Medicare and Social Security records. Finally, we will use information already on microfiche at MFUA and explore other sources of information to create measures of the men's war experiences and exposure to combat. We will use the data to address the following illustrative research questions: (a) We will test whether moderate drinking is protective against cardiovascular disease and diabetes, relative to abstaining and heavier drinking. If there is a protective effect, we will test whether it is consistent with a direct effect of alcohol or mediated by unmeasured genetic and environmental factors or by measured lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity. (b) Longitudinal analyses of this twin sample will allow us to separate genetic and early life conditions to see the independent effects of later life circumstances and trajectories. For example, we will evaluate socioeconomic and cognitive differences in health outcomes and longevity over the lifecycle. Knowing education at enlistment, subsequent education obtained under the GI bill, and life time income stream we can look at how these factors are related to treated medical conditions and the length of life. These are only illustrative of the richness of the data and the work that other scientists will be able to carry out as the data archive is created. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: We propose to establish a data archive comprised of prospective longitudinal data from 15,924 white male twin pairs born 1917-1927 in which both members of the pair were in the military, most of whom are now deceased. The archive will be a rich resource for investigations of longevity, health disparities, potentially modifiable risk factors associated with medical and behavioral outcomes, and long-term effects of earlier-life exposures. A twin design offers the additional benefit of adjusting for unmeasured genetic and family environmental factors, something not possible in standard case-control epidemiologic studies, in order to give clearer answers to how earlier influences lead to subsequent differences in life trajectories and outcomes, and how later exposures exert their effects, after adjusting for earlier influences.