Cohort Profile: The HUNT Study, Norway

TLDR

The HUNT Study is a large, population‑based Norwegian cohort of 125,000 participants across three surveys (HUNT1–3) that began with hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis screening, and quality‑of‑life assessments and has since expanded to include a biobank and extensive data on lifestyle, disease prevalence, and genotype‑phenotype associations. All adults aged 20+ in Nord‑Trøndelag County were invited to the HUNT surveys, with participants linked by family and followed longitudinally through national registers, and the study collects questionnaires, interviews, clinical measurements, and biological samples, making the data available to researchers who meet basic eligibility criteria.

Abstract

The HUNT Study includes large total population-based cohorts from the 1980ies, covering 125 000 Norwegian participants; HUNT1 (1984-86), HUNT2 (1995-97) and HUNT3 (2006-08). The study was primarily set up to address arterial hypertension, diabetes, screening of tuberculosis, and quality of life. However, the scope has expanded over time. In the latest survey a state of the art biobank was established, with availability of biomaterial for decades ahead. The three population based surveys now contribute to important knowledge regarding health related lifestyle, prevalence and incidence of somatic and mental illness and disease, health determinants, and associations between disease phenotypes and genotypes. Every citizen of Nord-Trøndelag County in Norway being 20 years or older, have been invited to all the surveys for adults. Participants may be linked in families and followed up longitudinally between the surveys and in several national health- and other registers covering the total population. The HUNT Study includes data from questionnaires, interviews, clinical measurements and biological samples (blood and urine). The questionnaires included questions on socioeconomic conditions, health related behaviours, symptoms, illnesses and diseases. Data from the HUNT Study are available for researchers who satisfy some basic requirements (www.ntnu.edu/hunt), whether affiliated in Norway or abroad.