Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Understanding Society (the UK Household Longitudinal Study), which began in 2009, is conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, and the survey research organisations Kantar Public and NatCen. It builds on and incorporates, the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), which began in 1991.
The Understanding Society Wave 2 Nurse Health Assessment, conducted in 2010-2012, was completed with 15,646 adult participants from the General Population component living in England, Scotland or Wales who completed a full Wave 2 interview. In addition, blood samples were obtained from 9,920 individuals. The Wave 3 Nurse Health Assessment, conducted in 2011-2012, was completed with the BHPS sample component. Assessments were conducted with 5,053 individuals and blood samples were obtained from 3,366 individuals. The Nurse Health Assessment, which included physical measures, such as height, weight, lung function, blood pressure and grip strength, as well as blood samples, followed the main wave interview by approximately five months. As well as a range of blood analytes, two proteomic panels have been produced and a number of epigenetics clock variables have been derived. The physical measures, biomarkers and questionnaire data from the Nurse Health Assessment interview are available from the UK Data Service. Genetics and epigenetics information is also available, with and without survey data; see the Understanding Society website's health data section for more information - https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/about/health/data.For information on the main Understanding Society study, see SN 6614, Understanding Society and Harmonised BHPS.The standard End User Licence version of the Understanding Society: Nurse Health Assessment study is held under SN 7251. Users are advised to check that study first to see if the data are suitable for their needs before making an application for the Special Licence version. The Special Licence version contains variables covering prescription medication codes and associated usage questions that are not included in the End User Licence version, and polygenetic risk scores derived from genetics data. See documentation for further details.Latest edition informationFor the third edition (January 2023), corrections have been made to 60 variables in the file xindresp_ns, with a further six being dropped. The files 'b_labblood_ns' and 'c_labblood_ns' have also been withdrawn. The testosterone polygenic score available in xpolygen_ns has also been corrected. For full details, please refer to the document '7587_revisions_jan_2023' and the updated user guide.Suitable data analysis software These data are provided by the depositor in Stata format. Users are strongly advised to analyse them in Stata. Transfer to other formats may result in unforeseen issues. Stata SE or MP software is needed to analyse the larger files, which contain over 2,047 variables.
Main Topics:
The main measures in the Nurse Health Assessment are anthropometric measurements - height, weight, waist circumference, percentage of body fat; blood pressure, lung function, grip strength, and a number of derived variables for prescription medications. The biomarkers include lipids, liver and kidney function, markers for anaemia, diabetes, and inflammation as well as a number of hormones that provide information about ageing.
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Face-to-face interview
Clinical measurements
Physical measurements and tests
