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For 30 years (since 1987) tracks the health of a group of randomly selected adult Dutch inhabitants of Doetinchem from originally between 20-60 years. This provides a wealth of information of four generations: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-60 year olds. The name of this study is the Doetinchem Cohort Study. Every five years the health and habits of the participants are examined at the local health department.

The purpose of the Doetinchem Cohort Study is to give insight into trends in lifestyle and health. So there will be more and more knowledge about why some people age without many problems, while others have health problems at an early age. The study collects data on:

  • Lifestyle habits: exercise, diet, smoking, alcohol consumption;
  • Biological factors: blood pressure, cholesterol, (over) weight;
  • Several specific diseases: cardiovascular disease, asthma, COPD , diabetes, cancer, migraine, musculoskeletal;
  • Quality of life: cognitive functioning, social participation, psychosocial aspects of health.

The Children of the 1950s study is a population-based resource for the study of biological and social influences on health across the life-course and between generations.

Comprising individuals born in Aberdeen, Scotland between 1950 and 1956, this cohort is based on the 12,150 people who took part in the Aberdeen Child Development Survey, a cross-sectional study in a population of all children who were attending an Aberdeen primary school in December 1962. The data collected include information on birth weight, childhood height and weight, tests of cognition and behavioural disorder, and a range of multi-level socio-economic indicators.

In the early 2000s the current vital status and whereabouts of 98.5% of the 12,150 subjects (6276 males, 5874 females) with full baseline data were ascertained. The large majority (81%) of study participants still resided in Scotland and the majority (73%) remained in the Grampian region which incorporates Aberdeen.

Linkages to hospital admissions and other health endpoints captured through the routine Scottish Morbidity Records system have been completed. A postal questionnaire to all surviving cohort members was distributed in 2001, with a response proportion of 63%.

The cohort database is now maintained as a resource for researchers, with over 40 publications to data resulting from interrogation of the data.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The aim of the Alfa Study is to focus on the processes taking place before the initiation of Alzheimer’s symptoms in order to design interventions to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. Inclusion criteria were being cognitively normal Spanish and/or Catalan-speaking persons aged between 45 and 74 years that agreed with the study procedures and tests: clinical interview and questionnaires associated to risk factors, cognitive tests, a blood sample extraction for DNA analysis, and MRI.

A subset (n=450) of the ALFA parent cohort participants are currently being recruited / undergoing a nested longitudinal long-term study, named the ALFA+ study, in which a more detailed phenotyping will be performed. On top of a similar characterization as in the ALFA parent cohort, it will entail the acquisition of both wet (CSF, blood, and urine sample collection) and imaging (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] and PET) biomarkers. Furthermore, ALFA parent cohort participants may also be invited to participate in other BBRC studies such the ALFAlife primary intervention study (n=400) or the full genetic and neuroimaging characterisation study referred to as ALFAgenetics (n=2000).

Last Update 21/09/2017

BiB – Children
Recruitment Period: 2007-11
Sample size at start or planned sample size if still recruiting: 13,857
Estimated current sample size: 13,500
Age at recruitment: 0

BiB – Mothers
Start date: 2006-10
Sample size at start or planned sample size if still recruiting: 12,453
Estimated current sample size: 12,000
Age at recruitment: 15-49

BiB – Fathers
Start date: 2006-10
Sample size at start or planned sample size if still recruiting: 3,414
Estimated current sample size: 3,000
Age at recruitment: 16-60

Born in Bradford is a long term study of a population cohort of 13,500 children, born at Bradford Royal Infirmary between March 2007 and December 2010, whose health is being tracked from pregnancy through childhood and into adult life. The information collected from the BiB families is being used to find the causes of common childhood illnesses and to explore the mental and social development of this new generation.

The Born in Bradford cohort study offers a unique window of opportunity to initiate an innovative and multidisciplinary programme of research. By recruiting pregnant women, their partners and their newborn babies to the cohort, this study offers the potential to:

  • assess the determinants of childhood and adult disease
  • assess the impact of migration
  • explore the influences of pregnancy and childbirth on subsequent health
  • generate and test hypotheses that have the potential to improve health for some of the most disadvantaged within our society.

The Bradford community provides a unique setting for a birth cohort study exploring the determinants of childhood and adult disease because of its diversity of population and high levels of ill-health.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The original aim of the Metropolit cohort was to follow men from early school age to early mid-life, to explore intergenerational mobility and differential life-chances. In 2001 the cohort was revitalised in order to study the development of chronic diseases in a life course perspective.
The Metropolit cohort comprises all 11532 men born in 1953 in the Copenhagen Metropolitan area who were living in Denmark in 1968. These men have been followed repeatedly since their birth. In brief, we have data from birth certificates (1953) which include information on birth dimensions and father’s occupation. In 1965, 7,987 participated in a school-based survey and completed tests of cognition and enquiries regarding leisure-time activities and social aspirations. Data from draft board examinations at around age 19 have been collected for 11,108 of the men. These data include cognitive testing and health information. In 2004, 6,292 of the men responded to a mailed questionnaire with questions on health and lifestyle. In 2009-2010, 2486 of 7799 eligible cohort members participated in the Copenhagen Ageing Midlife Biobank (CAMB) study which comprised questionnaires, cognitive and physical testing as well as blood sampling. Further, around 300 men selected on their young adult and current cognitive performance have been through a neurophysiological examination including EEG, MRI, fMRI and sleep tests. The cohort has also been followed in nation-wide social and health registers for social life, medical and mental hospital diagnosis as well as cause of death from 1969 to 2016.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The PROTECT Study will gather data and support innovative research to improve our understanding of the ageing brain and why people develop dementia.

We know that certain factors such as exercise, smoking and blood pressure affect our risk of dementia, and there is increasing evidence that our genes also play a role.

Participants in PROTECT will provide information about themselves and complete online assessments to measure their abilities such as memory and reasoning. By repeating these assessments each year we will monitor how they change over the study. Participants will also provide a sample of their DNA through a simple at-home kit. PROTECT participants will also have the opportunity to take part in innovative studies to answer crucial questions such as:

  • How do key measures, such as memory, language and reasoning change over time as we age
  • How do our lifestyle choices, including our exercise habits and diet affect our risk of dementia
  • What role do genetics play in the ageing brain? How do they affect how our brain functions and what is their influence on development of dementia?
  • What are the early signs of dementia and how can they be distinguished from normal ageing
  • What approaches can be delivered online to influence the ageing process and the development of dementia?

Last Update 21/09/2017

The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) is a large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal study on ageing in Ireland, the overarching aim of which is to make Ireland the best place in the world to grow old.
TILDA collects information on all aspects of health, economic and social circumstances from people aged 50 and over in a series of data collection waves once every two years. TILDA is unique amongst longitudinal studies in the breadth of physical, mental health and cognitive measures collected. This data, together with the extensive social and economic data, makes TILDA one of the most comprehensive research studies of its kind both in Europe and internationally.

Last Update 21/09/2017

The initial aims were to examine the importance of lipids, haemostatic factors, and hormones such as testosterone, cortisol and insulin (Lichtenstein et al 1987) in the development of ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Subsequently, other hypotheses were included with a specific interest in platelet function, and psychosocial variables. With the ageing of the cohort, additional outcomes have been included in particular stroke, hearing problems and cognitive function.

The initial design attempted to contact all men aged 45 to 59 years from the town of Caerphilly and adjoining villages. 2512 subjects (response rate 89%) identified from the electoral register and general practice lists were examined between July 1979 until September 1983 (phase I).

Men were initially seen at an evening clinic, where they completed a questionnaire, had anthropometric measures and an ECG taken. They also completed a food frequency questionnaire at home (Fehily et al 1994). They subsequently re-attended an early morning clinic to have fasting blood samples for a wide variety of tests.
Quality control was examined by the use of both “blind” split samples as well as a second repeat measure on a random sub-sample to examine intra-individual variation.

The men have been followed up 5 times; Phase II (July 1984-June 1988), Phase III (Nov 1989-Sep 1993), Phase IV (Oct 1993-Feb 1997) and two further occasions via post. An additional 447 men were included in the survey at Phase II.

Last update – 11/04/2017

The Norwegian ParkWest study is a prospective population-based longitudinal cohort study of patients with incident Parkinson’s Disease in Western and Southern Norway, with a total base population of more than 1 million inhabitants. The initial cohort comprised of 212 newly-diagnosed and drug-naïve individuals with suspected Parkinson’s disease, who were followed with standardized clinical examinations every 6 months. More comprehensive assessments, including neuropsychological and behavioural evaluations, were conducted at baseline and 1-year of follow-up, and at 2-year intervals thereafter. Currently, study participants are in the 10th year of follow-up. About 110 patients are still in the study.

Last update – 10/04/2017

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