Motives for withdrawal of participation in biobanking and participants' willingness to allow linkages of their data.

Data repositories, like research biobanks, seek to optimise the number of responding participants while simultaneously attempting to increase the amount of data donated per participant. Such efforts aim to increase the repository's value for its uses in medical research to contribute to improve health care, especially when data linkage is permitted by participants. We investigated individuals' motives for participating in such projects and potential reasons for their withdrawal from participation in a population-based biobank.

Effect of metabolic genetic variants on long-term disease comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Underlying genetic determinants contribute to developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) future diseases. The present study aimed to identify which genetic variants are associated with the incident of the major T2D co-morbid disease. First, we conducted a discovery study by investigating the genetic associations of comorbid diseases within the framework of the Utrecht Cardiovascular Pharmacogenetic studies by turning information of > 25 years follow-up data of 1237 subjects whom were genotyped and included in the discovery study.

Infant Motor Milestones and Childhood Overweight: Trends over Two Decades in A Large Twin Cohort.

Background: Poor motor skill competence may influence energy balance with childhood overweight as a result. Our aim was to investigate whether the age of motor milestone achievement has changed over the past decades and whether this change may contribute to the increasing trend observed in childhood overweight.

Methods: Motor skill competence was assessed in children from the Young Netherlands Twin Register born between 1987 and 2007.

Later achievement of infant motor milestones is related to lower levels of physical activity during childhood: the GECKO Drenthe cohort.

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate whether age of infant motor milestone achievement is related to levels of physical activity (PA), weight status and blood pressure at age 4-7 years of age.

Methods: In the Dutch GECKO (Groningen Expert Center of Kids with Obesity) Drenthe cohort, the age of achieving the motor milestone 'walking without support' was reported by parents. Weight status and blood pressure were assessed by trained health nurses and PA was measured using the Actigraph GT3X between age 4 and 7 years.

WITHDRAWN: Interventions for treating obesity in children.

Background: Child and adolescent obesity is increasingly prevalent, and can be associated with significant short- and long-term health consequences.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy of lifestyle, drug and surgical interventions for treating obesity in childhood.

Search Methods: We searched CENTRAL on The Cochrane Library Issue 2 2008, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ISI Web of Science, DARE and NHS EED.

Long-term Air Pollution Exposure, Genome-wide DNA Methylation and Lung Function in the LifeLines Cohort Study.

Background: Long-term air pollution exposure is negatively associated with lung function, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are not fully clear. Differential DNA methylation may explain this association.

Objectives: Our main aim was to study the association between long-term air pollution exposure and DNA methylation.

Changing the obesogenic environment to improve cardiometabolic health in residential patients with a severe mental illness: cluster randomised controlled trial.

For patients with severe mental illness (SMI) in residential facilities, adopting a healthy lifestyle is hampered by the obesity promoting (obesogenic) environment.To determine the effectiveness of a 12-month lifestyle intervention addressing the obesogenic environment with respect to diet and physical activity to improve waist circumference and cardiometabolic risk factors care as usual (Dutch Trial Registry: NTR2720).In a multisite cluster randomised controlled pragmatic trial, 29 care teams were randomised into 15 intervention (365 patients) and 14 control teams (371 patients).

Combining informal care and paid work: The use of work arrangements by working adult-child caregivers in the Netherlands.

An increasing number of people combine paid work with the provision of informal care for a loved one. This combination of work and care may cause difficulties, necessitating adaptations at work, i.e.

Long-term exposure to road traffic noise, ambient air pollution, and cardiovascular risk factors in the HUNT and lifelines cohorts.

Aims: Blood biochemistry may provide information on associations between road traffic noise, air pollution, and cardiovascular disease risk. We evaluated this in two large European cohorts (HUNT3, Lifelines).

Methods And Results: Road traffic noise exposure was modelled for 2009 using a simplified version of the Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU).

Missing heritability: is the gap closing? An analysis of 32 complex traits in the Lifelines Cohort Study.

Despite the recent explosive rise in number of genetic markers for complex disease traits identified in genome-wide association studies, there is still a large gap between the known heritability of these traits and the part explained by these markers. To gauge whether this 'heritability gap' is closing, we first identified genome-wide significant SNPs from the literature and performed replication analyses for 32 highly relevant traits from five broad disease areas in 13 436 subjects of the Lifelines Cohort. Next, we calculated the variance explained by multi-SNP genetic risk scores (GRSs) for each trait, and compared it to their broad- and narrow-sense heritabilities captured by all common SNPs.

Factors of physical activity among Chinese children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Background: Lack of physical activity is a growing problem in China, due to the fast economic development and changing living environment over the past two decades. The aim of this review is to summarize the factors related to physical activity in Chinese children and adolescents during this distinct period of development.

Methods: A systematic search was finished on Jan 10, 2017, and identified 2200 hits through PubMed and Web of Science.

Plasma N-terminal Prosomatostatin and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease and All-Cause Mortality in a Prospective Observational Cohort: the PREVEND Study.

Background: Somatostatin is a component of the well-known insulin-like growth factor-1/growth hormone (GH) longevity axis. There is observational evidence that increased GH is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to investigate the potential association of plasma N-terminal fragment prosomatostatin (NT-proSST) with incident CVD and all-cause mortality in apparently healthy adults.

Eosinophil Count Is a Common Factor for Complex Metabolic and Pulmonary Traits and Diseases: The LifeLines Cohort Study.

There is ongoing debate on the association between eosinophil count and diseases, as previous studies were inconsistent. We studied the relationship of eosinophil count with 22 complex metabolic, cardiac, and pulmonary traits and diseases. From the population-based LifeLines Cohort Study (N = 167,729), 13,301 individuals were included.

The LifeLines Cohort Study: Prevalence and treatment of cardiovascular disease and risk factors.

Background: The LifeLines Cohort Study is a large three-generation prospective study and Biobank. Recruitment and data collection started in 2006 and follow-up is planned for 30years. The central aim of LifeLines is to understand healthy ageing in the 21st century.

Ambient air pollution, traffic noise and adult asthma prevalence: a BioSHaRE approach.

We investigated the effects of both ambient air pollution and traffic noise on adult asthma prevalence, using harmonised data from three European cohort studies established in 2006-2013 (HUNT3, Lifelines and UK Biobank).Residential exposures to ambient air pollution (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO)) were estimated by a pan-European Land Use Regression model for 2007. Traffic noise for 2009 was modelled at home addresses by adapting a standardised noise assessment framework (CNOSSOS-EU).

52 Genetic Loci Influencing Myocardial Mass.

Background: Myocardial mass is a key determinant of cardiac muscle function and hypertrophy. Myocardial depolarization leading to cardiac muscle contraction is reflected by the amplitude and duration of the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram (ECG). Abnormal QRS amplitude or duration reflect changes in myocardial mass and conduction, and are associated with increased risk of heart failure and death.

Glucocorticoid receptor haplotype and metabolic syndrome: the Lifelines cohort study.

Objective: An excess of glucocorticoids (Cushing's syndrome) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) features. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) gene influence sensitivity to glucocorticoids and have been associated with aspects of MetS. However, results are inconsistent, perhaps due to the heterogeneity of the studied populations and limited samples.

The relationship between social functioning and subjective memory complaints in older persons: a population-based longitudinal cohort study.

Objective: Poor social functioning is associated with cognitive decline in older adults. It is unclear whether social functioning is also associated with subjective memory complaints (SMC). We investigated the association between social functioning and incident SMC and SMC recovery.

Neighborhood income and major depressive disorder in a large Dutch population: results from the LifeLines Cohort study.

Background: Previous studies are inconclusive on whether poor socioeconomic conditions in the neighborhood are associated with major depressive disorder. Furthermore, conceptual models that relate neighborhood conditions to depressive disorder have not been evaluated using empirical data. In this study, we investigated whether neighborhood income is associated with major depressive episodes.

The LifeLines Cohort Study: a resource providing new opportunities for environmental epidemiology.

Background: Lifelines is a prospective population-based cohort study investigating the biological, behavioral and environmental determinants of healthy ageing among 167,729 participants from the North East region of the Netherlands. The collection and geocoding of (history of) home and work addresses allows linkage of individual-level health data to detailed exposure data. We describe the reasons for choosing particular assessments of environmental exposures in LifeLines and consider the implications for future investigations.

Survey nonresponse among informal caregivers: effects on the presence and magnitude of associations with caregiver burden and satisfaction.

Background: Informal caregiving is becoming more relevant with current trends such as population ageing. However, little is known about nonconsent and nonresponse bias in caregiving research. We investigated nonconsent and nonresponse bias in a sample of informal caregivers who participated in the LifeLines Cohort Study, and were invited for participation in an additional caregiving study.

Maelstrom Research guidelines for rigorous retrospective data harmonization.

Background: It is widely accepted and acknowledged that data harmonization is crucial: in its absence, the co-analysis of major tranches of high quality extant data is liable to inefficiency or error. However, despite its widespread practice, no formalized/systematic guidelines exist to ensure high quality retrospective data harmonization.

Methods: To better understand real-world harmonization practices and facilitate development of formal guidelines, three interrelated initiatives were undertaken between 2006 and 2015.