The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES)

The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study (CRELES, or "Costa Rica Estudio de Longevidad y Envejecimiento Saludable") is a set of nationally representative longitudinal surveys of health and lifecourse experiences of older Costa Ricans. CRELES is part of the growing set of Health and Retirement Surveys being conducted around the world. Costa Rica is of particular interest to study given its high longevity: life expectancy is greater than that of the United States, despite being a middle income country with about one-fifth the per capita income and one-tenth the per capita health spending. CRELES is now composed of multiple waves of data from two birth cohorts.