The HANDLS study is a Baltimore-based longitudinal study of a fixed cohort of urban-dwelling adults initially 30–64 years old. HANDLS is conducted by investigators in the Health Disparities Research Section of the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Aging (NIA). Initial study recruitment began in 2004 using an area probability sampling design based on the 2000 Census and described in greater detail elsewhere (Evans et al.). The study is approved and monitored for human subject protection by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the MedStar Health Research Institute. All participants provide written informed consent for every phase or wave of the study and were compensated $100.00 for participation. The baseline wave of HANDLS was completed in 2009.
