Hamburg City Health Study
The primary objectives of the Hamburg City Health Study are to investigate:
• the causes for the development of functional health impairments and major chronic diseases;
• the prognostic factors for surviving chronic diseases;
• identifcation of factors supporting life in survivorship of major chronic diseases.
Overview
- Acronym
- HCHS
- Website
- HCHS
- Investigators
-
- Contacts
-
General Design
- Study design
- Cohort
- Start - End Year
- 2016 -
- General Information on Follow Up (profile, frequency)
-
Following the baseline examination, participants will be followed-up annually through a questionnaire delivered by mail. After 6 years, all participants are invited to repeat the baseline measures.
- Recruitment Target
-
- Individuals
- Number of Participants
- 45,000
- Number of Participants with Biological Samples
- 45,000
- Supplementary Information
-
The Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) is a large, prospective, long-term, population-based cohort study.
Access
Availability of data and biosamples
| Possible Access to Data | |
| Possible Access to Biosamples | |
| Other |
Access is only possible via a request (as proposal) to the HCHS Committees and can only be accessed if the committees positively vote for this.
Marker Papers
Jagodzinski, A., Johansen, C., Koch-Gromus, U. et al. (2019). Rationale and Design of the Hamburg City Health Study, European Journal of Epidemiology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00577-4
Timeline
Population
HCHS population
The population consists of a random sample of 45 000 participants between 45 and 74 years of age from the general population of Hamburg, Germany.
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
45
- Maximum age
-
74
- Countries
-
- Germany
- Territory
- Hamburg City
- Other Criteria
- Individuals are excluded from participation if they have insufficient knowledge of the German language, in order to understand study documents and computer assisted interview without translation. Participants with a physical or psychological incapability to travel to the study center and to cooperate in the investigations are also excluded.
Sources of Recruitment
- General Population
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- Selected sample
- Supplementary Information
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Participants are identified by a random sample from the official inhabitant data file divided into gender and six age strata. The participants are contacted by a letter to their home address containing the invitation and an information leaflet providing basic study information.
Sample Size
- Number of Participants
- 45,000
- Number of Participants with Biological Samples
- 45,000
Data Collection Events
| # | Name | Data sources | Data sources - Biosamples | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | HCHS - Baseline |
|
|
2016 (February) | Ongoing |
| 1 | HCHS - Follow-up 1 |
|
2017 (February) | Ongoing | |
| 2 | HCHS - Follow-up 2 |
|
2018 (February) | Ongoing | |
| 3 | HCHS - Follow-up 3 |
|
2019 (February) | Ongoing | |
| 4 | HCHS - Follow-up 4 |
|
2020 (February) | Ongoing | |
| 5 | HCHS - Follow-up 5 |
|
2021 (February) | Ongoing | |
| 6 | HCHS - Follow-up 6 |
|
|
2022 (February) | Ongoing |
Participating Studies
| Acronym | Name | Study design | Countries |
|---|
Harmonization Initiatives Included
| Acronym | Name |
|---|
Datasets
| Name | Data Collection Events | Variables |
|---|
Areas of Information Collected
- Socio-demographic and economic characteristics
- Death
- Lifestyle and behaviours
- Physical measures and assessments
- Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history
- Laboratory measures
- Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations
- Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments
- Diseases
- Life events, life plans, beliefs and values
- Symptoms and signs
- Preschool, school and work life
- Medication and supplements
- Social environment and relationships
- Non-pharmacological interventions
- Physical environment
- Health and community care services utilization
- Administrative information
Variables Content Summary
Areas of Information Collected
No Areas of Information Collected
No Scales Collected
Areas of Information Collected per per Population and Data Collection Event
No Areas of Information Collected
No Scales Collected
Networks
| Acronym | Name | Harmonization Initiatives | Individual Studies |
|---|
Last Update: 2026-02-20T14:07:50.649