Whitehall II
The first Whitehall study, set up in 1967, included 18,000 men in the British Civil Service. It showed that men in the lowest employment grades were much more likely to die prematurely than men in the highest grades. Furthermore, these socio-economic inequalities in health did not appear to be fully accounted for by differences in well-known risk factors, such as smoking.
The Whitehall II (WII) study, also known as the Stress & Health Study, was established in 1985 to explore the relationship between socio-economic status, stress and cardiovascular disease, this time also including women. A cohort of 10,308 participants aged 35-55, of whom 3,413 were women and 6,895 men, was recruited from the British Civil Service in 1985. Since this first wave of data collection, self-completion questionnaires and clinical data have been collected from the cohort every two to five years with a high level of participation. As a consequence, the WII study is currently very well placed to answer questions about how previous and current circumstances affect health and quality of life in an ageing cohort. To this end, the WII study continues to collect data in order to examine the interrelationships between socioeconomic biological, psychosocial, and behavioural factors in the ageing process, and identify key determinants of late life depression, cognitive decline, chronic disease, and physical functioning. Data collection is intended to continue until 2030.
Overview
- Acronym
- WH-II
- Website
- WH-II
- Investigators
-
- Contacts
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General Design
- Study design
- Cohort
- Start - End Year
- 1985 -
- General Information on Follow Up (profile, frequency)
-
The whole cohort has been invited to fill in a comprehensive self-completion questionnaire and to attend the research clinic at 5-year intervals, which has been reduced to a 3-years interval from 2012. A postal self-completion questionnaire was sent to participants between clinic phases up to 2006.
- Recruitment Target
-
- Individuals
- Number of Participants
- 10,308
- Number of Participants with Biological Samples
- 10,308
Access
Availability of data and biosamples
| Possible Access to Data | |
| Possible Access to Biosamples | |
| Other |
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Marker Paper
Marmot M, Brunner E. Cohort Profile: the Whitehall II study. Int J Epidemiol. 2005 Apr;34(2):251-6. Epub 2004 Dec 2.
PUBMED 15576467Supplementary Information
The Whilehall II study is a member of the following networks:
- HALCyon (Healthy Ageing across the Life Course)
- ERFC (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration)
- IPD-Work Consortium ("Individual-participant-data meta-analysis of working populations")
- LEAD Consortium (Leadership in Epidemiological Analysis of longitudinal Diabetes-related data)
- IL6R MR Consortium (Interleukin-6 Receptor Mendelian Randomisation Analysis)
- ICBP (International Consortium for Blood Pressure)
Timeline
Population
The Whitehall II population consists of civil servants (men and women) aged 35–55 years working in the London offices of 20 Whitehall departments in 1985–88.
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
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35
- Maximum age
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55
- Countries
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- United Kingdom
- Territory
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Central London, England.
Sources of Recruitment
- General Population
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- Volunteer enrolment
Sample Size
- Number of Participants
- 10,308
- Supplementary information about number of participants
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Phase 1: 10 308 participants (3413 women and 6895 men)
Phase 2: 8132 participants
Phase 3: 8815 participants
Phase 4: 8628 participants
Phase 5: 7870 participants
Phase 6: 7355 participants
Phase 7: 6967 participants
Phase 8: 7173 participants
Phase 9: 6761 participants
Phase 10: 277 participants
Phase 11: 6318 participants
Data Collection Events
| # | Name | Data sources | Data sources - Biosamples | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Phase 1 |
|
1985 | 1988 | |
| 1 | Phase 2 |
|
1989 | 1990 | |
| 2 | Phase 3 |
|
1991 | 1994 | |
| 3 | Phase 4 |
|
1995 | 1996 | |
| 4 | Phase 5 |
|
1997 | 1999 | |
| 5 | Phase 6 |
|
2001 | 2001 | |
| 6 | Phase 7 |
|
2002 | 2004 | |
| 7 | Phase 8 |
|
2006 | 2006 | |
| 8 | Phase 9 |
|
2007 | 2009 | |
| 9 | Phase 10 (pilot) |
|
2011 (February) | 2011 (March) | |
| 10 | Phase 11 |
|
2012 | 2013 |
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
Areas of Information Collected per per Population and Data Collection Event
Networks
| Acronym | Name | Harmonization Initiatives | Individual Studies |
|---|