The Women's Health in the Lund Area (WHILA) study invited all women (n = 10,766) living in the Lund area of Southern Sweden by 1995, who were born between 1935 and 1945. The health screening program included a postal validated questionnaire concerning medical history, drug treatment, family history of diabetes and hypertension, menopausal status, smoking and alcohol habits, education, household, and working status, physical activity, quality of life as well as subjective physical and mental symptoms.

The screening consisted of a routine physical examination with standardized blood pressure measurements, bone densitometry and an extended laboratory examination. A link with the mammography registry was established. 10766 women were invited to the study and the total cohort consists of 6917 (response rate 64.2%).

Purpose:

The aim was to study the health profile in a population based cohort of middle-aged women in a geographically well-defined area in relation to metabolic factors, bone density, quality of life, lifestyle, social conditions and various subjective symptoms.

Method and outcome

Unit of analysis

Individual

Population

All women born between 1935-12-02 and 1945-12-01 residents in the municipality of Lund per 1995-12-01.

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Time period(s) investigated

1995-12-01 – 2000-02-03

Biobank is connected to the study

Yes

Number of individuals/objects

6917

Response rate/participation rate

64.2%

Data format / data structure

Numeric

Data collection

Data collection 1

Mode of collection: Face-to-face interview
Time period(s) for data collection: 1995-12-01 – 2000-03-03
Source of the data: Population group, Biological samples

Data collection 2

Mode of collection: Self-administered questionnaire: paper
Time period(s) for data collection: 1995-12-01 – 2000-02-03
Source of the data: Population group, Biological samples

Data collection 3

Mode of collection: Physical measurements and tests
Time period(s) for data collection: 1995-12-01 – 2000-02-03
Source of the data: Population group, Biological samples

Geographic coverage

Geographic spread

Geographic description: Lund Municipality

Administrative information

Responsible department/unit

Center for Primary Health Care Research

Ethics Review

Lund - Ref. LU 174-95

Topic and keywords

Research area

Endocrinology and diabetes (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Cardiac and cardiovascular systems (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Orthopaedics (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Urology and nephrology (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive medicine (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

General practice (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Public health, global health, social medicine and epidemiology (Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2011)

Health (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Keywords

Quality of life, Living conditions, Drinking behaviour, Smoking, Physical activities, Education, Cardiovascular diseases, Public health, Medical history, Epidemiologic studies, Cohort studies, Health surveys, Diet surveys, Population surveillance, Osteoporosis, Socioeconomic factors, Urinary incontinence, Glucose tolerance test, Hormone replacement therapy, Menopause, Women's health, Women, Diet, Surveys and questionnaires, Epidemiology, Glucose, Drug utilization, Mass screening, Nicotiana, Working conditions, Biological specimen banks, Diabetes, Scania, Epihealth, Epihealth_skåne

Publications

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Samsioe G, Lidfeldt J, Nerbrand C, Nilsson P. The women's health in the Lund area (WHILA) study--an overview. Maturitas. 2010 Jan;65(1):37-45.
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Moberg L, Nilsson PM, Samsioe G, Borgfeldt C. Low androstenedione/sex hormone binding globulin ratio increases fracture risk in postmenopausal women. The Women's Health in the Lund Area study. Maturitas. 2013 Jul;75(3):270-5
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