European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition - Heidelberg cohort (EPIC-Heidelberg)
The EPIC-Heidelberg cohort is part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a large European study designed to investigate the relationships between diet, lifestyle, and chronic disease, particularly cancer. The EPIC-Heidelberg cohort over 25,000 participants from Heidelberg and surrounding municipalities in Germany. Between 1994 and 1998, men and women were randomly selected from local population registers and invited to participate. Participants were aged 35 to 65 years at recruitment, and provided extensive information on diet, lifestyle, medical history, and biological samples such as blood. Follow-up surveys have been conducted at approximately three-year intervals, with six full waves completed as of 2016 and ongoing outcome updates through registries and medical records.
Study design
Cohort, Biobank
Number of participants at first data collection
25,540 (participants)
Age at first data collection
35 - 65 years (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1994
Primary Institutions
German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ)
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT)
Links
dkfz.de/epidemiologie-von-krebserkrankungen/ernaehrungsepidemiologie/epic-heidelberg
Profile paper DOI
Not available
Funders
European Union (EU)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) now known as Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt, BMFTR)
German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe)
German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Secondary data
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Healthcare data
- Mortality data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
