Postal Questionnaire (2001)

In 1999 funding was obtained to start the process of revitalising the Aberdeen Child Development Study, naming this follow-up the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study. The revival of the cohort was made possible by Raymond Illsley who provided a copy of the original Aberdeen Child Development Study data, and the fact that a copy of the hardbound registers with the names and addresses of the original sample had been kept.

This work involved tracing the study participants. Names and dates of birth were sent to the General Registry Office (Scotland), who used the National Health Service Central Register to find out if participants were alive, and the area of residence of survivors. Of the 12,150, over 97% were successfully traced. A large majority of participants still lived in Scotland and most had remained in the Grampian region. 

Between 2001 and 2003, these individuals were sent a postal questionnaire. 

The questionnaire assessed factors such as self-reported health, height, weight, doctor-diagnosed diseases, symptoms, smoking, drinking, number of children, occupation, education, income, onset of menstruation and menopausal information, and information about family circumstances in childhood. More than 7,000 individuals replied to the postal questionnaire.