Cohort Profile: A prospective cohort study of objective physical and cognitive capability and visual health in an ageing population of men and women in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk 3)

Abstract

The European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC) is a 10-country collaborative study in which EPIC-Norfolk is one of the UK centres. EPIC-Norfolk examined 25 639 men and women resident in East Anglia (aged 40–79 years), between 1993 and 1997. The EPIC collaboration was set up to examine the dietary determinants of cancer, but the remit in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort was broadened from the outset to include determinants of other health conditions and chronic diseases. EPIC-Norfolk completed a third round of health examinations (EPIC-Norfolk 3 or 3HC) in December 2011, on 8623 participants in the age range 48–92 years. EPIC-Norfolk focused on objective measures of cognitive function, physical capability and visual health, adapting this existing mid-life cohort to the current need to investigate healthy and independent living for ageing societies. With a wealth of longitudinal data and a biobank (including DNA) collected at up to three separate time points, EPIC-Norfolk offers the unique opportunity to investigate the association of lifestyle and biological factors, including genetic exposures, with a range of health outcomes in middle and later life. Information for data access can be found on the study website, details as given in this cohort profile.

Weather, day length and physical activity in older adults: Cross-sectional results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Norfolk Cohort

“…The scope of data collection has since been expanded to investigate major determinants of chronic disease, disability and death in middle and later life [19]. …”

Dog ownership supports the maintenance of physical activity during poor weather in older English adults: cross-sectional results from the EPIC Norfolk cohort

“…The cohort was originally assembled to examine the associations between diet and cancer but has since been expanded to investigate major determinants of chronic disease, disability and death in middle and later life. 25 Details of sampling and recruitment have been described elsewhere. 26 Briefly, EPIC Norfolk recruited over 25 000 community-dwelling participants aged 40-79 between 1993 and 1997 from primary care across the county of Norfolk, a predominantly rural country of approximately 2000 square miles situated on the east coast of England.…”

“…However, the vast majority of participants remained community dwelling. 25 The climate in East of England is less extreme compared with some other regions or countries, and the protective effect of dog ownership could thus differ in areas with greater seasonal disparities. The analyses only focused on those who reported provided information on dog ownership and around a quarter of the sample did not complete this part of the survey.…”

Cross Sectional Associations between Socio-Demographic Factors and Cognitive Performance in an Older British Population: The European Investigation of Cancer in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk) Study

“…However unlike other studies that are more restrictive in age, sex or using a cohort that is not representative of the general population [3,23,45], our cohort comprises a large number of participants from the general population at baseline, includes men and women, covers a broad range in age, education and social class. Even in this relatively well-functioning group [16], we observed variability in function across all domains. While cross-sectional studies cannot look at longitudinal change, the recruitment bias are similar to longitudinal studies, with healthier, younger individuals more likely to take part.…”

“…Such registers function as population based registers in the UK National Health Service. The data presented here are from the third health examination (3HC or EPIC-Norfolk 3), a face to face assessment conducted between 2006 and 2011 including data from the pilot phase between 2004 and 2006 [16] when the participants were aged 48 to 92 years. Although the EPIC-Norfolk 3 (including the pilot) ran over 7 years, the administration of the health examination remained unchanged with staff tightly following a protocol thus minimizing variation, differences in interpretation and reducing subjectivity [17].…”