Cohort profile: The Stockholm Public Health Cohort

Abstract

The Stockholm Public Health Cohort was set up within the Stockholm County Council public health surveys to inform on determinants and consequences of significant contributors to the current burden of disease. Participants are 89 268 randomly selected individuals from the adult population of Stockholm County. Baseline surveys took place in 2002, 2006 and 2010 via self-administered questionnaires. So far, participants recruited in 2002 were re-surveyed twice, in 2007 and 2010, and those enrolled in 2006 were re-surveyed once, in 2010. Self-reported data are regularly supplemented by information from national and regional health data and administrative registers, for study participants and their relatives (including their offspring). Available data are extensive and include a wide array of health, lifestyle, perinatal, demographic, socio-economic and familial factors. The cohort is an international resource for epidemiological research, and the data available to the research community for specific studies obtained approval from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort Steering Committee and the Stockholm Regional Ethical Review Board.

Keywords: Public health; cohort studies; data collection; epidemiology; health surveys; questionnaires.