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The Southall And Brent Revisited Study (SABRE) is the largest tri-ethnic population-based cohort in the UK, involving nearly 5000 European, Indian Asian and African Caribbean men and women. It investigates the causes of diabetes and disorders of the heart and circulation and examines underlying reasons for ethnic differences in risk of these disorders.

The participants were aged 40-69 when first studied between 1989 and 1991. In 2008-2011 a comprehensive combined morbidity and mortality follow up was carried out, together with non-invasive clinical measurements in order to quantify sub-clinical disease. SABRE visit 2 tested hypotheses generated from the Southall and Brent baseline studies and ongoing mortality follow-up.

SABRE Visit 3 (25 year follow-up visit) started in July 2014 and is collecting data on index participants and new participants, including partners of index participants. The focus of this visit is on cardiac, cognitive and physical function in older age, in association with mid-life risk factors. Ethnic and gender differences in function will also be examined.

Last update – 10/04/2017

TRACK-HD was a prospective observational biomarker study in participants with premanifest and early Huntington’s disease (HD). Track-HD assessed longitudinal data collected at baseline, 12 months, 24 and 36 months at sites in Leiden (Netherlands), London (UK), Paris (France), and Vancouver (Canada). Participants were individuals without HD but carrying the mutant HTT gene (ie, premanifest HD), patients with early HD, and healthy control individuals matched by age and sex to the combined HD groups. Data were collected with 3T MRI, clinical, cognitive, quantitative motor, oculomotor, and neuropsychiatric assessments. TrackOn-HD followed on from TRACK-HD aiming to investigate compensatory mechanisms in premanifest gene carriers. Baseline, 12 and 24 month data was collected from the same four sites on premanifest gene carriers and healthy controls including 3T MRI, task and resting state fMRI, DTI, clinical, cognitive, quantitative motor and neuropsychiatric assessments.

Last update – 11/04/2017

Initially, the study focus was on perinatal, infant, and early childhood morbidity and mortality. We were particularly interested in breastfeeding patterns and nutritional status, as well as social and environmental factors. Deaths of cohort members were identified by regular visits to all hospitals, cemeteries, offices of civil registrations, and local health authorities, since 1982.

By mid-childhood, the study shifted in emphasis to child care, utilization of health services, selected morbidity indicators, and child development. A random sub-sample of 360 four-year-olds was selected for an in-depth study of psychomotor development.

In adolescence, issues related to sexual and reproductive behaviours (including teenage pregnancies), habits such as smoking and alcohol drinking, mental health, and education became the focus of the investigation. A sub-study investigated oral health in a random sample of 900 adolescents, and an ethnographic study of 96 cohort members, stratified by sex and socioeconomic status, has included repeated in-depth visits from the age of 15 to 30 years, aimed at understanding the role of adolescent development in influencing high-risk behaviours.

In more recent phases, with cohort members being young adults, the main emphasis has shifted to risk factors for chronic disease (including smoking, diet, physical exercise, and overweight), reproductive history, and mental health.

Last update – 21/06/2017

This is the largest multi-centre study of ageing in men in the world and intends to identify the nature and frequency of some of the symptoms of ageing in men, the relationships between these symptoms to hormonal changes and other risk factors.

In total, 3369 men in 8 different countries in Europe are taking part in the study. These 8 centres are Manchester – UK, Malmo – Sweden, Tartu – Estonia, Lodz – Poland, Szeged – Hungary, Florence – Italy, Santiago de Compostela – Spain, Leuven – Belgium. In each centre, ~400 men aged between 40 and 79 years at the start of the study have been recruited. They will be followed up to look for future changes in their hormonal and general health status. The men will be investigated initially on two occasions, at the start and then ~5 years later. It is highly likely that the study will continue beyond 5 years and further testing will be organised subsequently. The aims of the study are to:

Document geographical variations in the ageing-related involution decline of endocrine function in European men;
Explain the variability in the rate of secular decline in endocrine functions on the basis of socio-demographic, lifestyle, co-morbid, ethnic/racial, or genetic factors;
Predict the physical and psychological health status of individuals based on the variation in ageing-related endocrine decline and changes in body composition.

Last update – 24/04/2017

Disease follow-up for all the cohorts is conducted by active follow-up every 5 years and linkage to national disease and death registries.

The Singapore Health study is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey with the aim to estimate the prevalence of:

Health conditions of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes, overweight and obesity, hearing loss and chronic kidney disease, mental wellbeing and to allow comparison of these data with the National Health Survey 2010;
Specific health behaviours; and
Participation in health screening for chronic diseases, cervical cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer

2,352 Singapore citizens and permanent residents of age 18 to 79 years old participated in the survey from August 2012 to March 2013. Overall response rate was 40%. 1956 of the participants also underwent physical examination, additional surveys and provided blood and urine samples for tests and storage.

Last update – 28/06/2017

The Sydney Memory and Ageing Study (Sydney MAS) began in 2005 to examine the clinical characteristics and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and related syndromes, and to determine the rate of change in cognitive function over time.

Non-demented community-dwelling individuals (N=1037) aged 70-90 were recruited from two areas of Sydney, following a random approach to 8,914 individuals on the electoral roll. They underwent detailed neuropsychiatric and medical assessments and donated a blood sample for clinical chemistry, proteomics and genomics. A knowledgeable informant was also interviewed. Structural MRI scans were performed on 554 individuals, and subgroups participated in studies of falls and balance, metabolic and inflammatory markers, functional MRI and prospective memory. The cohort is to be followed up with brief telephone reviews annually, and detailed assessments biannually.

Last update – 20/07/2017

In 2009, when it was launched, the Tempo cohort consisted of 1,103 people between the ages of 22 and 35 who had participated in a study on children and adolescents’ health between 1991 and 1999: “Les Enfants de Gazel”.

In 2011, Tempo cohort expanded to:

– include young people aged 18-25 years who have specific health situations and life situations
– increase the number of participants to study infrequent health problems.

In 2011 1,214 people were interviewed. In 2015, 783 people participated in the study and 533 participants returned a saliva collection kit. Saliva samples allow us to identify genetic markers that are associated with addictive behaviours (tobacco, alcohol and cannabis/CBD) in relation to characteristics of people’s lives.

In total 526 respondents responded at least three times, and 334 at least four times, giving us the opportunity to examine health trajectories over time.

Participants in the Tempo cohort were asked about their health, the situations they encountered in their daily lives, their work and family experiences.

Last update – 12/05/2017

The key goal of EUROSCA-NHS is to determine and compare the rate of disease progression in SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6. To this end, a newly developed and validated ataxia scale (Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia, SARA) will be used. EUROSCA-NHS has a number of secondary aims including determination of the order and occurrence of non-ataxia symptoms, assessment of activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QoL), and identification of predictors of disease progression and survival.

Patients are first seen at a baseline visit, followed by annual visits for 3 years scheduled ﾱ 3 months around the specified time point. After the initial 3 year observation period, visits are done at irregular intervals each time they went to hospital.

Last update – 12/08/2017

The aim of RISCA is to answer the following questions:

What is the incidence of disease manifestation in mutation carriers?
Which clinical signs precede the onset of manifest ataxia in SCA1, SCA2, SCA3 and SCA6?
What are the prevalence and incidence of preceding signs?
Are the prevalence and incidence of preceding signs affected by genotype, gender, age, estimated time until disease manifestation and repeat length?
Does the presence of certain preceding signs predict the manifestation of ataxia?
Are there MRI alterations that precede the onset of ataxia?

Study participants are followed at 24 months intervals over six years and than at irregular intervals. At each visit, study participants are asked in a structured interview for a number of predefined clinical signs that potentially precede the onset of ataxia.

Last update – 26/05/2017

InveCe.Ab (Invecchiamento Cerebrale ad Abbiategrasso) is a longitudinal, population-based study of disorders of brain ageing involving the assessment and long-term monitoring of the physical conditions and cognitive status. The target population comprises all Abbiategrasso residents born between 1935 and 1939, a reference sample, according to Population Register data, of around 1,700 people.

Those who agreed to participate in the Invece.Ab study were enrolled in a cross-sectional assessment and will be contacted two and four years after the initial data collection to participate in the longitudinal survey. Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments include a medical evaluation, a neuropsychological test battery, several anthropometric measurements, a social and lifestyle interview, blood analyses, and the storage of a blood sample for the evaluation of putative biological markers.

Last update – 02/05/2017