BioNortHealth Project: Creation of a Cohort of Adolescents and Young Adults Supported by Digital Biobanks
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 1,500
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Food Propensity Questionnaire
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The goal of this observational longitudinal cohort study is to identify key lifestyle-related predictors of health and disease and to understand how health trajectories develop over time in adolescents and young adults.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
- How are lifestyle habits associated with health indicators in adolescents and young adults?
- Which individual, social, and environmental factors act as risk or protective determinants of health over time?
- How do lifestyle behaviours and health determinants evolve during critical life transitions, particularly academic transitions?
What causal relationships exist between changes in lifestyle habits and health outcomes, after controlling for potential confounders?
Participants will:
- Provide digital health and lifestyle data through a digital biobank platform;
- Be followed longitudinally with repeated data collection over time;
- Contribute information related to health status, lifestyle behaviours, and individual, social, and environmental determinants.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Observational
- Observational Model
- Cohort
- Time Perspective
- Prospective
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •18 years or older;
- •Enrollment at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (P. PORTO) from the 2025 academic year onward;
- •Attendance in any cycle of study (CTeSP, bachelor's, master's, or doctoral programs);
- •Willingness to participate voluntarily in the study;
- •Ability to provide informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria
- •Lack of access to a computer or a mobile device with internet access.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Food Propensity Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
Food Propensity Questionnaire is a self-report instrument used within the scope of the National Food and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF, Portugal), designed to assess the habitual frequency of food consumption. The questionnaire aims to characterise participants' dietary patterns based on a typical week over the previous 12 months, allowing for an estimation of habitual intake throughout the year.
Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST v3.1)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), version 3.1, is a self-report screening instrument developed by the World Health Organization to detect and manage substance use and related risks. The ASSIST assesses lifetime and recent (past three months) use of a range of psychoactive substances, including tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, inhalants, sedatives, hallucinogens, opioids, and other substances.
Adapted Graffar Scale
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Adapted Graffar Scale is used to assess and classify the socioeconomic level of a household.
Substance Use Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The Substance Use Questionnaire is a self-report instrument that assesses lifetime and current use of tobacco, vaping, and recreational drugs, including patterns, quantity, and history of consumption.
Sexual Health Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Sexual Health Questionnaire is a self-report instrument that assesses sexual history and sexual health characteristics.
Sexual Risk Behaviours Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Sexual Risk Behaviours Questionnaire is a self-report instrument that assesses the frequency of sexual risk behaviours over the past month, including unprotected sexual practices, substance use during sexual activity, number and type of partners, and sexually transmitted infection testing.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases Knowledge Questionnaire (STD-KQ)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Sexually Transmitted Diseases Knowledge Questionnaire is a self-report instrument that assesses knowledge about sexually transmitted infections, including transmission, prevention, symptoms, treatment, and vaccination.
Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II is a self-report questionnaire assessing the frequency of health-promoting behaviors across physical, social, and psychological domains.
Plastics and Human Health
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Plastics and Human Health was developed with the aim of assessing potential sources of human exposure to microplastics associated with dietary habits, beverage consumption, lifestyle, and daily contact with plastic materials.
Exposure to Obesogenic Compounds (OBECARE)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 4
The Exposure to Obesogenic Compounds questionnaire is a self-report tool designed to assess daily exposure to obesogenic compounds from food, environment, and personal care products, which may affect metabolic health and contribute to obesity risk.
International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form (IPAQ-SF)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form is questionnaire to assess self-reported physical activity.
Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale is a self-report questionnaire measuring the likelihood of dozing off in daily situations, assessing habitual daytime sleepiness.
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support is a self-report questionnaire assessing perceived social support from family, friends, and significant others, using a 7-point agreement scale.
Medication and Supplementation Questionnaire (MSQ)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Medication and Supplementation Questionnaire is a self-report tool for recording all medications and dietary supplements taken in the past week, including reason for use and source of guidance (physician, other health professional, or self-medication).
Measure of Treatment Adherence (MAT)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Measure of Treatment Adherence is a self-report instrument developed to assess the degree of patients' adherence to prescribed pharmacological therapy.
Depression, Anxiety, And Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5
The Depression, Anxiety, And Stress Scale - 21 is a 21-item self-report scale measuring depression, anxiety, and stress, with seven items per subscale.
World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index is a 5-item self-report scale assessing subjective well-being over the past two weeks, with higher scores indicating greater well-being.
Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale (WEMWBS)
Time Frame: Baseline, Year 3, Year 5
The Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale is a self-report scale measuring positive mental well-being over the past two weeks, covering thoughts, feelings, and social connectedness.
Female Sexual Function Index- 6 (FSFI-6)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Female Sexual Function Index- 6 is a 6-item self-report questionnaire assessing female sexual function over the past four weeks, covering desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.
International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The International Index of Erectile Function is a 5-item self-report questionnaire assessing erectile function over the past six months, including confidence, erection quality, maintenance, and sexual satisfaction.
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index is a self-report questionnaire assessing sleep quality and disturbances over the past month, including sleep duration, latency, efficiency, disturbances, medication use, and daytime dysfunction.
Digital and Social Habits
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
Is a self-report questionnaire assessing digital and social media habits, including frequency and purpose of internet and social media use, digital literacy, use of artificial intelligence and smart technologies, privacy concerns, and daily screen time.
Digital Habits
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
This self-report questionnaire measures daily digital habits, including time spent on smartphones, social media, video games, non-digital games, types of games, and digital study.
SUSceptibility to being Influenced by Social media Influencers (SUSIS)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The SUSceptibility to being Influenced by Social media Influencers is a self-report questionnaire developed to assess the degree of individuals' susceptibility to the influence exerted by social media influencers.
Internet Severity and Activities Questionnaire (ISAAQ-10)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Internet Severity and Activities Questionnaire is a 10-item self-report questionnaire assessing problematic internet use over the past six months, including time management, emotional regulation, neglect of daily activities, preoccupation, sleep disruption, and related physical or psychological problems.
Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization Scales (CBV)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Cyberbullying Perpetration and Victimization Scales questionnaire measures participants' experiences of being victims of cyberbullying. It assesses how often individuals are exposed to harmful or aggressive behaviours through online platforms such as social media, messaging apps, and other digital communication tools.
Healthy Lifestyle - Natural Environments
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Healthy Lifestyle - Natural Environments questionnaire assesses frequency of visits to blue and green spaces, reasons for visiting, daily exposure, and views from home to evaluate engagement with natural environments.
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Patient Health Questionnaire is a 9-item self-report scale assessing the severity of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks and their impact on daily functioning.
Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-42 (CAPE-42)
Time Frame: Year 2
The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE-42) is a self-report questionnaire assessing the lifetime frequency and associated distress of psychotic-like experiences across positive, negative, and depressive dimensions.
Trauma History Questionnaire (THQ)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Trauma History Questionnaire is a self-report tool assessing lifetime exposure to traumatic events, including crime, disasters, and physical or sexual experiences. It records occurrence, frequency, and age at exposure.
Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET)
Time Frame: Year 2
The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test measures the ability to recognize others' emotions and mental states from images of their eyes.
Mental Health-Promoting Knowledge Measure (MHPK-10)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Mental Health-Promoting Knowledge Measure assesses understanding of factors important for good mental health through 10 statements.
Interoceptive Accuracy Scale (IAS)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Interoceptive Accuracy Scale measures how well people notice their bodily sensations, like heartbeat, hunger, thirst, or pain.
Interoceptive Attention Scale (IATS)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Interoceptive Attention Scale measures how much people pay attention to their body sensations, like heartbeat, hunger, thirst, or pain.
Reported and Intended Behavior Scale (RIBS)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Reported and Intended Behavior Scale is a brief self-report questionnaire assessing current and intended behaviors toward people with mental health problems, focusing on stigma and discriminatory attitudes.
Autism Spectrum Quotient - Adult 10 (AQ-10)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The Autism Spectrum Quotient - Adult 10 is a brief self-report screening tool for adults without learning disabilities, designed to assess autistic traits. It consists of 10 items on social, attention, and cognitive preferences, scored to indicate possible need for further diagnostic evaluation.
World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0)
Time Frame: Year 2, Year 4
The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (12-item version) is a self-report instrument designed to assess disability and functioning associated with physical or mental health conditions, evaluating difficulties experienced over the past 30 days across key domains of daily functioning using a five-point response scale.
Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS)
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener is a 14-item questionnaire assessing adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Questionnaire on Caffeine, Natural Compounds, and Supplement Use
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The Questionnaire on Caffeine, Natural Compounds, and Supplement Use is an instrument that evaluates the frequency and patterns of consumption, providing an overview of participants' intake of stimulants and supplements.
Alcohol Consumption
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The Alcohol Consumption Questionnaire is an instrument that provides a concise evaluation of alcohol consumption habits and risky drinking behaviors in adult populations.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale is a brief self-report tool used to screen for and assess the severity of generalized anxiety symptoms over the past 14 days.
University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (UCLA v3)
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (v3) is a self-report questionnaire that assesses subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation, capturing how often individuals feel connected to or disconnected from others.
Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale-V1.1 (ASRS-V1.1)
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale-V1.1 Screener is a brief self-report questionnaire designed to identify symptoms of adult ADHD. It assesses difficulties with attention, organization, and hyperactivity/impulsivity over the past six months.
The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ)
Time Frame: Year 3, Year 5
The The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire is a tool used to identify musculoskeletal symptoms. It assesses the presence of pain, discomfort, or numbness in different body regions over the last 12 months, the last 7 days, and the impact on daily activities.
Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ)
Time Frame: Assessed at 2 years after the beginning of the study
The Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire is a simple and widely used tool to assess how low back pain affects daily activities. It consists of 24 short statements that patients select according to their current condition, and the total score reflects the level of functional disability, with higher scores indicating greater limitation.
Adolescents and Adults Coordination Questionnaire (AAC-Q)
Time Frame: Assessed at 2 years after the beginning of the study and evaluated 2 years after
The Adolescents and Adults Coordination Questionnaire is a self-report tool used to assess motor coordination difficulties in adolescents and adults. It evaluates problems related to fine and gross motor skills, daily activities, spatial orientation, organization and planning, and motor learning, helping to identify coordination difficulties that may impact everyday functioning.
Secondary Outcomes
- Saliva sample(Baseline)
- Postural control assessment - Mini-BESTest: Balance Evaluation Systems Test(Year 2, Year 4)
- Audiological Assessment (Otoacoustic Emissions and Impedanciometry)(Baseline, Year 3)
- Waldrop Physical Anomaly Scale(Baseline)
- Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Blood pressure(Baseline, Year 3)
- Ophthalmological Assessment (Optical Coherence Tomography, Angiography and Retinography)(Baseline, Year 4)
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Chester Step Test (CST)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- 1-Minute Push-Up Test (1mPUT)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- 1-minute Sit-to-Stand test (1mSTS)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Deep Squat Test(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy(Year 2, Year 4)
- Blood sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Blood sample(Baseline)
- Stool Sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Stool sample(Baseline)
- Saliva sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Urine sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Vaginal swab sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Cutaneous swab sample(Baseline)
- Height(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Waist Circumference(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Hip Circumference(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Skinfold Thickness(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Handgrip Strength(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Quadriceps Muscle Strength(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Electroencephalogram Spectral Power During Resting-State(Baseline, Year 2, Year 4)
- Frontal Theta Power During N-back Task (Working Memory)(Baseline)
- P300 Event-Related Potential Amplitude During N-back Task (Working Memory)(Baseline)
- P300 Event-Related Potential Latency During N-back Task (Working Memory)(Baseline)
- Late Positive Component (LPC) Amplitude During N-back Task (Working Memory)(Baseline)
- Late Positive Component (LPC) Latency During N-back Task (Working Memory)(Baseline)
- Hair sample(Baseline, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5)
- Physical activity levels (time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA))(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Physical activity levels (time spent in sedentary behaviour)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Step count (steps/day-1)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Physical activity levels (light, moderate, vigorous and very vigorous)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Total Sleep Time (TST)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Sleep Efficiency(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Sleep Onset Latency (SOL)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO)(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- Fragmentation Index / Nocturnal Movement(Baseline, Year 3, Year 5)
- N200 Amplitude During Attention Network Task (ANT)(Baseline)
- N200 Latency During Attention Network Task (ANT)(Baseline)
- P300 Amplitude During Attention Network Task (ANT)(Baseline)
- P300 Latency During Attention Network Task (ANT)(Baseline)
- Total Correct Sequences During Digit Span Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Maximum Span Length During Digit Span Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Accuracy During N-back Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Reaction Time During N-back Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Commission Error Rate During Go/No-Go Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Omission Error Rate During Go/No-Go Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Reaction Time During Go/No-Go Task (E-Prime)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Reaction Time During Attention Network Test (ANT)(Year 3, Year 5)
- Attention Network Efficiency Score During Attention Network Test (ANT)(Year 3, Year 5)
Investigators
Nuno Barbosa Rocha
Coordinating Professor with Habilitation, PhD
Polytechnic Institute of Porto