Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study

The overall aim of the NSHDS is to support frontline research with particular emphasis on improving diagnostic tools for clinical use, as well as finding early markers of disease, using the blood samples, tissue and associated health data from the NSHDS. Furthermore, basic research regarding risk factors as well as pathogenetic pathways are promoted.

The prospective blood samples and related survey data can be linked to national registries for health outcomes such as cancer diagnosis for which there is a near 100% completeness of the data.

VIP - VÄSTERBOTTEN INTERVENTION PROGRAMME The VIP is a long-term project intended for health promotion of the population of the county of Västerbotten (approximately 254,000 inhabitants). All individuals 40, 50, and 60 years of age in the county are invited for screening. They are asked to complete a questionnaire concerning various lifestyle factors, including diet, and to donate a blood sample to be frozen for later research purposes. The cohort is population-based and the inclusion of individuals started 1985 and is ongoing. The participation rate has ranged between 48 and 67% of the population. But a large number has not been invited for screening. Among those invited the participation rate has been very high. The material is population based.

The blood samples consist primarily of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) and heparin blood samples divided into plasma, erythrocyte concentrate and buffy coat. Questionnaire data are linked to blood samples.

The majority of samples are fasting samples. Number of individuals: 103,100 Individuals with repeated samples: 43,500 Sampling occasions: 151,200 (October 2016)