The Swedish Mammography Cohort, SMC

Overview Description Datasets

Principal investigator(s):

Alicja Wolk - Karolinska Institute, Institute of Environmental Medicine

Abstract:

The Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC) is a large population-based cohort of over 60,000 women in the counties of Uppsala and Västmanland which is performed by the National Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet . The general aim is to assess relationships between a number of modifiable factors (diet, vitamin supplement use, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, body weight, other anthropometric measures etc.) and the occurrence of several major chronic diseases. All women born 1914-1948 who were residing in Västmanland and Uppsala County and in the years 1987-1990 received an invitation to participate in a mammography screening programme were asked to answer a questionnaire about diet and lifestyle. Approximately 66,000 women answered the questionnaire. In the autumn 1997, a second survey was sent to these women to update the information about their eating habits. The study examine associations of environmental/modifiable risk factors with several cancer sites (e.g., breast, colon, rectum, endometrium, ovary, and renal cell cancer), myocardial infarction, stroke, osteoporosis, cataracts, as well as death causes. All these degenerative diseases appear to have some risk factors in common; therefore the same information about different lifestyle exposures is relevant for studying the etiology of the above mentioned as well as other chronic diseases. The general rationale behind this longitudinal cohort is that prospectively collected exposure information is not influenced by differential recall and selection biases, which might be a problem in case-control studies. By updating exposure data on participants in the cohort, it is possible to take into account the changes in lifestyle factors which might influence estimates of the risks of different diseases. Complete and inexpensive follow-up of the cohorts is obtained through record linkages to the nationwide Cancer Register, the In-Patient Register, and the Death and Population Register. The possibility of such record linkages in Sweden to high quality registers makes our study unique in an international comparison. During 2003-2009, biomaterial (blood, urine, fat biopsies) and antropometric measures have been collected for 5,022 women who participated in the SMC study. In March 2012 home visits started to the oldest participants in the SMC. Material coresponding to that gathered from the 5,022 women who participated previously is now even collected from some of the oldest participants in the study. Biomaterial is collected from more than 6,500 women. Participation of the SMC together with other cohorts in the Pooling Project on Diet and Cancer at Harvard Medical School enhances the opportunity to compute relatively precise estimates of risks for common cancers and to study even rare outcomes. Moreover, it facilitates the study of potential interactions, e.g. between nutrients and smoking, which otherwise are difficult to study due to lack of statistical power in individual studies. Show less..

Topic classification:

specific diseases, disorders and medical conditions, Medical and Health Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Cancer and Oncology, Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems, Endocrinology and Diabetes, HEALTH

Keywords:

Anthropometry, Life Style, Follow-Up Studies, Heart Failure, Longitudinal Studies, Prospective Studies, Exercise, Population Surveillance, Osteoporosis, Tinnitus, Climacteric, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Drug Therapy, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Risk Factors, Women's Health, Myocardial Infarction, Stroke, Diet, Alcohol Drinking, Asthma, Fractures, Bone, Thrombosis, Bronchitis, Chronic, Breast Cyst, Breast Neoplasms, Crohn Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Cause of Death, Eczema, Reproductive History, Intermittent Claudication, Gallstones, Pregnancy, Cataract, Glaucoma, Dermatitis, Atopic, Health, Hypertension, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Cholesterol, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Body Height, Body Weight, Angina Pectoris, Arthralgia, Uterine Neoplasms, Gastritis, Mammography, Menstruation, Migraine Disorders, Environmental Medicine, Multiple Sclerosis, Oral Health, Depression, Kidney Calculi, Kidney Neoplasms, Parkinson Disease, Contraceptive Agents, Psoriasis, Registries, Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal, Smoking, Social Support, Stress, Psychological, Sleep, Colitis, Ulcerative, Vitamins, Vertigo, Ovarian Neoplasms, Heredity, Hypersensitivity, Swedish Cohort Consortium (SCC), NEAR - Towards a National E-Infrastructure for Aging Research in Sweden, Cohorts.se

Homepage:

The study homepage

Contact:

Alicja Wolk

Principal organisation:

Karolinska Institute

Availability status:

3b - Data are not available at SND. Please contact the research institute representative for more information

Available documentation:

Questionnaire SMC 1987-1990 (Swedish)

Questionnaire SMC 1997 (Swedish)

Health questionnaire SMC 2008 (Swedish)

COSM and SMC questionnaire 2009 (Swedish)

Identifiers:

SND-ID: EXT 0018

Principal investigator(s):

Alicja Wolk - Karolinska Institute, Institute of Environmental Medicine

Principal organisation:

Karolinska Institute

Responsible department/unit:

Karolinska Institute, Institute of Environmental Medicine

Purpose:

The general aim of the Swedish Mammography Cohort (SMC) is to assess relationships between a number of modifiable factors (diet, vitamin supplement use, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, body weight, other anthropometric measures etc.) and the occurrence of several major chronic diseases.

Abstract:

Topic classification:

specific diseases, disorders and medical conditions, Medical and Health Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Cancer and Oncology, Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems, Endocrinology and Diabetes, HEALTH

Keywords:

Time period(s) investigated:

1987 — ongoing

Collection events:

1987 — 1990 (Self-administered questionnaire: paper)

1997 (Self-administered questionnaire: paper)

2008 (Self-administered questionnaire: paper)

2009 (Self-administered questionnaire: paper)

Lowest geographic unit:

County (NUTS3)

Unit of analysis:

Individual

Population:

Women born 1914-1948 living in Västmanland or Uppsala County during 1987-1990

Kind of data:

Survey data: Independent surveys

Measurement data: Biological measurements

Time Method/Study design:

Longitudinal: Cohort: Prospective

Sampling procedure:

Total universe/Complete enumeration

From 1987 to 1990, all women who lived in the Uppsala County of central Sweden and were born between 1914-1948 and all women who lived in the adjacent Västmanland County and were born between 1917-1948 received an invitation by mail to participate in a mammography screening program. A total of 66,651 (74% of the source population) returned a completed questionnaire on diet, weight, height, parity, and education. In 1997, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to all cohort members who were still living in the study area. Further follow-up was made during 2008-2009. The 2009 questionnaire was sent only to those who answered 2008.

Availability status:

3b - Data are not available at SND. Please contact the research institute representative for more information

Homepage:

The study homepage

Contact:

Alicja Wolk

Download metadata:

Related studies:

The Cohort of Swedish Men, COSM

Publications

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Harris H, Håkansson N, Olofsson C, Julin B, Åkesson A, Wolk A. The Swedish Mammography Cohort and the Cohort of Swedish Men: Study design and characteristics of 2 population-based longitudinal cohorts. OA Epidemiology;1(2):16, 2013.

Stackelberg O, Björck M, Larsson SC, Orsini N, Wolk A. Fruit and vegetable consumption with risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Circulation 128(8):795-802, 2013.

Wolk A, Larsson SC, Johansson JE, Ekman P. Long-term fatty fish consumption and renal cell carcinoma incidence in women. JAMA. 296(11):1371-6, 2006.

If you have published anything based on this study, please send a notification with a reference to your publication(s) to snd@snd.gu.se.

Dataset EXT 0018-001