HART is a biannual household panel survey designed to provide panel data on the multidisciplinary dimensions of aging in Thai older adults, including: (1) demographic characteristics, (2) family and transfers, (3) health and cognition, (4) employment and retirement, (5) income, (6) assets and debts, and (7) life expectations and life satisfaction.

The 5,600 households represent the national households from five regions and Bangkok and vicinity. Thirteen provinces were selected as a household panel in the baseline survey. In each household, one member aged 45 years or older is selected as the respondent. 

The survey instrument used in the baseline study was a paper-and-pencil (PAPI) questionnaire. Most of the content included in the questionnaire was applied from the Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) (See “Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing”) and Chinese  Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (See “China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study”). Additional content in the questionnaires was developed to best suit the local context, especially with regards to family and transfers, health status, health care, and health care utilization. In Wave 2 of the survey, with technical assistance from HRS and the Survey Research Center (SRC) at ISR, the University of Michigan, the survey instrument was changed from PAPI to a computer-assisting personal interview (CAPI). Due to technical and logistical constraints, some contents from the questionnaire had to be modified by adapting to the HRS. Overall, however, the seven primary dimensions of the questionnaire remain the same in both surveys.

HART employs face-to-face interviewing methods. One eligible member aged 45 or older is selected from each panel household as a primary respondent. Spouses (at any age, if any) are also interviewed for data relevant to family, transfers, and finances. Proxy interviews from the spouse or family member from the household are also utilized for frail respondents. For the Wave 2 survey, a proxy for deceased respondents is contacted for an exit interview. If the proxy for the exit interview (a spouse or a family member) is aged 45 or older, he/she will be eligible to be included as a new respondent for that household. Panel members who move away from the survey area are not followed in the survey. There are no biomarker data collected in the field survey of HART.