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

描述(由申请人提供)：在这份申请中，我们建议启动一个数据档案，由国家科学院-国家研究理事会第二次世界大战双胞胎登记处(NAS-NRC双胞胎登记处)组成，以便向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”来描述这个登记处里的男人。因此，虽然这是一项针对退伍军人的研究，但它实际上是对一群人成年后一生的研究。这种情况使得保存登记处变得更加重要，因为它代表了一代人。该应用程序包括完整的拟议归档项目的第一阶段。双胞胎登记包括15924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。目前在国家科学院医疗后续机构(MFUA)可获得的数据包括摘要服役记录、从服役到1984年的医疗诊断、从20世纪60年代开始的40年邮寄流行病学调查问卷、教育、职业、收入、家庭组成、休闲活动和个性。对于至少4800人，有[陆军]通用分类测试分数作为认知能力的衡量标准。我们将更新所有双胞胎的事实和死因。在本申请期间，所有这些数据将被存入密歇根大学国家老龄化计算机化数据档案馆(NACDA)，以启动数据档案。选定的双胞胎还参加了子研究，其中的数据包括认知和各种复杂疾病的筛查，亲自体检和由此产生的诊断，以及基因分型。我们已经获得了进行这些项目的许多研究人员的同意，在这一赠款期间，我们将随后制定具体计划，将这些数据纳入档案。我们还将进行试点工作，以便链接到联邦医疗保险和社会保障记录。最后，我们将使用MFUA已有的缩微胶片信息，并探索其他信息来源，以创建衡量男性战争经历和战斗暴露的指标。我们将利用这些数据来解决以下说明性的研究问题：(A)我们将测试适度饮酒是否与戒酒和大量饮酒相比，对心血管疾病和糖尿病具有保护作用。如果有保护作用，我们将测试它是否与酒精的直接影响一致，或者是由不可测量的遗传和环境因素或可测量的生活方式因素(如饮食和体力活动)介导的。(B)对这对双胞胎样本的纵向分析将使我们能够区分遗传和早期生命条件，以了解晚年生活环境和轨迹的独立影响。例如，我们将评估在生命周期中健康结果和寿命方面的社会经济和认知差异。知道入伍时的教育，根据退伍军人法案获得的后续教育，以及终身收入流，我们可以看到这些因素是如何与接受治疗的医疗条件和寿命相关的。这些只是说明了数据的丰富性，以及其他科学家在创建数据档案时将能够进行的工作。 公共卫生相关性：我们建议建立一个数据档案，由出生于1917-1927年的15,924对白人男性双胞胎的预期纵向数据组成，其中两人都曾在军队服役，其中大多数人现在已经去世。该档案将是一个丰富的资源，用于调查长寿、健康差距、与医疗和行为结果相关的潜在可改变的风险因素，以及早期接触的长期影响。双胞胎设计提供了对未测量的遗传和家庭环境因素进行调整的额外好处，这在标准的病例对照流行病学研究中是不可能的，以便更清楚地回答早期的影响如何导致随后的生活轨迹和结果的差异，以及在根据早期的影响进行调整后，后来的暴露如何发挥作用。

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.