Scientific Concept of the National Cohort (status ... - Nationale Kohorte

Major diseases:
� CVD
� Diabetes mellitus
� Cancer
� Neurologic and psychiatric diseases
� Respiratory diseases
� Infectious diseases
A.2 Scientific background and rationale for study elements
Intermediate phenotypes and measurements of function:
� CVD: Subclinical atherosclerosis (arterial stiffness, ankle–brachial index, intima–
media thickness of the carotid artery, brain MRI), cardiac dysfunction (ECG, 3D-
Echocardiography, MRI), elevated blood pressure
� Diabetes: Impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance (fasting glucose,
oral glucose tolerance test), accumulation of advanced glycation end products (skin
autofluorescence), retinopathy (retinal photographs)
� Cancer: precursor stages of haematologic malignancies
� Neurologic and psychiatric diseases: mild cognitive impairment (cognitive functioning
tests), olfactory function (smell test), brain MRI
� Respiratory diseases: lung function (spirometry), airway inflammation (exhaled nitric
oxide FeNO), lung volume (MRI)
� Musculoskeletal functions and phenotypes: osteoarthritis (MRI) and rheumatoid arthritis
(clinical examination, biomarker measurement), musculoskeletal pain disorders
(pain mannequin), osteoporosis (DXA)
� MRI-based measurements of intermediate/subclinical phenotypes for diseases of
large organs and metabolic diseases
Major exposures and risk factors:
� Body composition
� Physical activity
� Physical fitness
� Diet
� Smoking and alcohol consumption
� Psychosocial factors
� Socioeconomic status
� Sleep-related characteristics
� Chronic infections, immune factors, and microflora
� Occupational and environmental exposures
A.2.2 major disease outcomes of core focus
In the following, a brief overview is given of the major diseases to be studied in the National
Cohort, and the methods for prospective investigation and characterization (examinations,
questionnaires, active follow-up, and passive follow-up) are outlined for each of the disease
entities. In case of death, death certificates will be used to identify the underlying cause of
death. Unless otherwise specified, the term ”questionnaire” used in the box refers to the
assessment of physician-diagnosed disease (at baseline or during follow-up) as reported
by the study participant. For some diseases, however, questionnaires are used to assess
symptoms. Self-reported diseases during follow-up will be medically verified using different
sources of medical information (for further information, see Sect. A.3.7). Analytical data
from biosamples are also required but are not mentioned in full here.
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A.2