Research infrastructure The Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (NSHDS) is one of Sweden’s largest population-based cohort studies with biobank samples and includes approximately 150 000 unique participants. NSHDS has a very long follow-up period and documented high sample quality. For around 65 000 individuals, there are repeated blood samples from different sampling occasions, often taken before the individual fell ill.
The study’s coverage in Västerbotten is unique: about 75 per cent of the region’s inhabitants over the age of 40 have donated one or more samples.
NSHDS is a prospectively collected biobank cohort study with associated survey data on lifestyle factors and diet.
The sample collection consists of three sub-cohorts
NSHDS is continuously developed through linkage to other registry data and through national and international networking among researchers. Dietary data is maintained and nutritional calculations are performed within the The Northern Sweden Diet Database (NSDD). The samples are stored by Region Västerbotten at Biobanken Norr.
NSHDS is the cohort that enables the majority of the research projects for which the Biobank Research Unit provides samples and/or data. Its special features are: a long follow-up period, repeated samples over times, extremely high sample quality (most samples are taken after overnight fasting and frozen within the hour), and high population coverage in Västerbotten.
There are only a few other places in the world where such a large part of the adult population over the age of 40 have provided blood samples for research. It is even rarer that the samples are also of such high quality. This makes the samples a strategically important locally based resource that is often used in collaboration with leading researchers from other parts of the world.
Scientific development of new research areas is mainly driven by individual researchers or research groups that use these resources. The Biobank Research Unit, established to stimulate this kind of research, supports researchers in their specific studies through the units know-how and statistical and administrative support.
Learn more: The Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study
