Baseline assessment

Please note: data is only accessible through our Research Analysis Platform.

Baseline assessments

UK Biobank recruited 500,000 people across the country aged between 40 and 69 years from 2006 to 2010. These half a million participants agreed to have their health followed so scientists across the globe can help improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases.

Assessments were undertaken in 22 centres in Scotland, England and Wales. There were five parts to the UK Biobank assessment process, which lasted between 2-3 hours. These included:

Written consent
Touch screen questionnaires i.e. detailed diet recall
Face-to-face interview with a study nurse
Measurements i.e. hand grip, spirometry and bone density
Sample collection of blood, urine and saliva

In addition to information collected during the baseline assessment, 100,000 UK Biobank participants have worn a 24-hour activity monitor for a week, 20,000 have undertaken repeat measures, and nearly 50,000 have had their heart, brain and abdomen scanned as part of a major imaging project.

UK Biobank has grown exponentially since this initial assessment and has become a powerful research resource. The database, which is regularly augmented with additional data, is globally accessible to approved researchers and scientists undertaking vital research into the most common and life-threatening diseases. anywhere in the world.

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