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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 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

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