Overview
- General population cohort: 500 000 volunteer participants
- Age at recruitment (btw 2006 -2010): 40 to 69 years
- Genotype: 500 000 participants
- Brain MRI: 15 000 participants to date
Age distribution of cohort
Cognitive Function
Question | nb. individuals |
---|---|
FI1:numeric addition test | 190 387 |
FI2:identify largest number | 189 970 |
FI3:word interpolation | 189 852 |
FI4:positional arithmetic | 189 500 |
FI5:family relationship calculation | 184 590 |
FI6:conditional arithmetic | 165 570 |
FI7:synonym | 135 192 |
FI8:chain arithmetic | 122 905 |
FI9:conceptual interpolation | 58 209 |
FI10:arithmetic sequence recognition | 40 450 |
FI11:antonym | 21 403 |
FI12:square sequence recognition | 15 119 |
FI13:subset inclusion logic | 5 493 |
Brain MRI
sub category | nb. individuals |
---|---|
NIFTI | 15 040 |
DICOM | 21 468 |
Many volume metrics | click for more details |
sub category | nb. individuals |
---|---|
T2_FLAIR structural brain images - NIFTI | 14 468 |
T2_FLAIR structural brain images - DICOM | 20 804 |
Total volume of white matter hyperintensities (from T1 and T2_FLAIR images) |
13 415 |
Discrepancy between T2 FLAIR and T1 | 13 420 |
T2/PD brain images - DICOM | 554 |
sub category | nb. individuals |
---|---|
NIFTI | 14 989 |
DICOM | 21 388 |
Matrix and other measures | click for more details |
Mental Health
From a questionnaire completed online from 157 366 participants in august 2017
The application is in process, we expect access by september 2018. In the mean time the data can be explored on the data showcase
The study is following about 500,000 volunteers in the UK, enrolled at ages from 40 to 69. Initial enrollment took place over four years from 2006, and the volunteers will be followed for at least 30 years thereafter.
Prospective participants were invited to visit an assessment centre, at which they completed an automated questionnaire and were interviewed about lifestyle, medical history and nutritional habits; basic variables such weight, height, blood pressure etc. were measured; and blood and urine samples were taken. These samples were preserved so that it was possible to later extract DNA and measure other biologically important substances. During the whole duration of the study it was intended that all disease events, drug prescriptions and deaths of the participants are recorded in a database, taking advantage of the centralized UK National Health Service.
During the initial physical examination, basic feedback was provided to the participant regarding their weight, height, BMI, blood pressure, lung vital capacity, bone density and intra-ocular pressure; however if any other medical problems were detected, neither the participant nor their physician would be notified. Problems detected later, such as genetic risk factors, were not conveyed to either participant or physician ("to ensure that volunteers are not penalised by insurance companies, for example, which may require customers to disclose the results of any genetic tests.").
From 2012, researchers were able to apply to use the database (though they are not given access to the volunteers, who will remain strictly anonymous). A typical study using the database might compare a sample of participants who developed a particular disease, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes or Alzheimer's disease, with a sample of those that did not, in an attempt to measure the benefits, risk contribution and interaction of specific genes, lifestyles, and medications.
By 2017 Biobank participants had approximately 1.3 million hospitalisations, 40,000 cancer incidents with 14,000 of them having died.