Lolland-Falster Health Study: Study protocol for a household-based prospective cohort study

Abstract

LOFUS will contribute to the knowledge on health in disadvantaged, rural-provincial areas.

Questionnaire development for the Lolland-Falster Health Study, Denmark: an iterative and incremental process

“…LOFUS is a household-based population study, undertaken in the mixed rural-provincial population of 103, 000 persons on the Danish islands Lolland and Falster aimed to form a cohort for later follow-up [9]. Data collection started in February 2016 and continued through February 2020, achieving 19,000 participants.…”

“…The aim of LOFUS was to create a research platform, including a comprehensive database and a biobank, to investigate risk factors for diseases including socioeconomic, hereditary, lifestyle, familial, social, and environmental exposures on the individual, family, and household basis [9]. Randomly selected adult persons (≥18 years) from Lolland-Falster and their entire households were invited.…”

“…Household members were of all ages, and they could participate together or independently. Besides questionnaires, health examinations were performed, and biological samples were collected [9].…”

“…In addition, researchers interested in collection/use of specific parts of the data contributed financially to the budget. The project is governed by a steering committee including representatives from the financing organisations, researchers with university affiliations, and administrators [9].…”

“…In this paper, we report lessons learned from our questionnaire development for the Lolland-Falster Health Study (LOFUS), Denmark, which included participants from households and of all ages, combined multiple medical and social research areas, and had several stakeholders [9]. The objective is to present and discuss the challenges, considerations, and trade-offs in the development process.…”