JSTAR: Study Overview
JSTAR is a panel survey of people between the ages of 50 and 75, living in private households in Japan. Its main goal is to provide a data resource on aging and retirement that is comparable to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). The survey elicits information about demographics, family structure, cognition, job status and history, health, income, assets, housing, and health care use and costs.
The JSTAR core interview is carried out every two years through face-to-face interviews using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) since 2007.
In addition to the core interview, JSTAR also collects a number of other types of data.
| End of Life Interview | Conducted starting at Wave 2 with someone knowledgeable about deceased respondents. |
|---|---|
| Self-Completion Survey | At each wave, a general self-completion survey is provided to all respondents prior to the CAPI survey. |
| Dietary Habit Survey | Self-completion survey on dietary habits provided to all respondents at each wave. |
| Health Assessment | Conducted at each wave for all respondents. |
The JSTAR Wave 1 sample included 8,000 eligible individuals. Since then, the JSTAR sample has been refreshed at waves 2 and 3. When a refreshment sample is drawn, individuals are selected from additional municipalities using stratified random sampling.
