Ebetsu Active Future Study (EAFS): cognitive function and physical and mental health in elderly residents of Ebetsu City, Japan - cohort profile

How do cognition, physical function, and health change with age in independent older adults, and what blood, lifestyle, and environmental factors relate to mild cognitive impairment?

1189 community-dwelling residents aged 55-75 of Ebetsu City, Japan, all independent in ADLs (38.9% male; mean age 64.5 ± 5.6 years)

Ongoing prospective cohort — what this means profile with annual surveys (cognitive and physical function testing, blood sampling, questionnaires, interviews); baseline — what this means 2023, follow-up — what this means planned through 2032

• 1340 applied, 1189 enrolled at baseline — what this means; follow-up — what this means retention was 98.5% by the third wave in 2025
• On the Japanese Montreal Cognitive Assessment, 53.6% met the operational threshold for mild cognitive impairment, with prevalence rising in older age groups
• APOE4 status: 1.2% homozygous carriers and 22.1% heterozygous carriers

This cohort — what this means profile describes an infrastructure for tracking cognitive and physical decline in independent older adults and signals that screening-level cognitive impairment may be common in this age range, though no intervention or outcome associations are reported yet.