| Description |
The German National Cohort (GNC) is a population-based cohort study to identify (i) novel pathways to disease, (ii) causes of health disparities in Germany, (iii) susceptible subgroups, and (iv) markers for early disease detection. The study completed recruitment and examined 205 217 participants women and men aged 20 to 69 years at 18 sites throughout Germany. The study aims to observe health state of the participants over a period of 30 years. Study participants were recruited through a network of 18 local recruitment centers, covering industrialized urban and rural areas throughout Germany. Sixteen centers planned to recruit 10 000 participants, 2 centers 20 000 participants, all randomly drawn from municipal population registries within defined strata of age and gender. In the 18 study centers, the participants are being extensively medically examined and asked about their lifestyle. Various biosamples are also being collected. The basic investigation, which has been running since 2014, was completed on September 30, 2019. The second examination with slightly modified program started at the end of 2018. GNC provides novel, high quality and comprehensive health data longitudinally to contribute significantly to personalized prevention in the future. In April-May 2020 GNC has send an additional Corona-questionnaire to all GNC-participants. 161 849 participants have completed questionnaire. Currently the implementation of additional corona-related questions to the regular questionnaire at study centers has been considered. This questionnaire will also address questions related to the vaccination. |