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
HCHS Study Group
University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf
Contacts
Dr. Ines Schäfer
University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf
Prof. Dr. Tanja Zeller
University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf
Prof. Dr. Stefan Blankenberg
University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf

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
  • Selected sample
Supplementary Information
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
  • Questionnaires
  • Cognitive measures
  • Physical measures
  • Biosamples
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
  • Blood
  • Urine
  • Saliva
  • Tissues : Skin stanza
  • Buccal cells
  • Other : Tooth fluid, tonsil swabs, pluripotent stem cells
2016 (February) Ongoing
1 HCHS - Follow-up 1
  • Questionnaires
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
2017 (February) Ongoing
2 HCHS - Follow-up 2
  • Questionnaires
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
2018 (February) Ongoing
3 HCHS - Follow-up 3
  • Questionnaires
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
2019 (February) Ongoing
4 HCHS - Follow-up 4
  • Questionnaires
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
2020 (February) Ongoing
5 HCHS - Follow-up 5
  • Questionnaires
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurances
2021 (February) Ongoing
6 HCHS - Follow-up 6
  • Questionnaires
  • Cognitive measures
  • Physical measures
  • Biosamples
  • Administrative databases
  • Other : Health and pension insurance
  • Blood
  • Saliva
  • Tissues : Skin stanza
  • Buccal cells
  • Other : Tooth fluid, tonsils swabs, pluripotent stem cells
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