The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey - Minimum Dataset (TOPICS-MDS)

The Older Persons and Informal Caregivers Survey - Minimum DataSet (TOPICS-MDS) is a public data repository which contains information on the physical and mental health and well-being of older persons and informal caregivers and their care use across the Netherlands. The database was developed at the start of The National Care for the Elderly Programme (‘Nationaal Programma Ouderenzorg’ - NPO) on behalf of the Organisation of Health Research and Development (ZonMw - The Netherlands), in part to ensure uniform collection of outcome measures, thus promoting comparability between studies. 53 Different research projects have contributed data to this initiative, resulting in a pooled dataset with cross-sectional and (partly) longitudinal data of >43,000 older persons and >9,000 informal caregivers. Out of these numbers, a number of 7,600 concerns care receiver - caregiver dyads of whom information on both the care receiver and caregiver is available. Since September 2014, TOPICS-MDS data are also collected within the ZonMw funded ‘Memorabel’ programme. In Memorabel round 1 through 4, 11 different research projects have collected TOPICS-MDS data, which has resulted in a pooled dataset with cross-sectional and (partly) longitudinal data of 1,400 older persons with dementia and about 950 informal caregivers. Out of these numbers, a number of 919 concerns care receiver - caregiver dyads of whom information on both the care receiver and caregiver is available. More TOPICS-MDS data from Memorabel are expected to become available in 2022 and onwards. More information on TOPICS-MDS can be found on https://topics-mds.eu . 53 Different research projects have contributed data to this initiative, resulting in a pooled dataset with cross-sectional and (partly) longitudinal data of >43,000 older persons and >9,000 informal caregivers. Out of these numbers, a number of 7,600 concerns care receiver - caregiver dyads of whom information on both the care receiver and caregiver is available. Since september 2014, TOPICS-MDS data are also collected within the ZonMw funded ‘Memorabel’ programme. These data will become available in 2020 and onwards. More information on TOPICS-MDS can be found on https://topics-mds.eu