Cohort Profile Update: The Young-HUNT Study, Norway

Abstract

The Young-HUNT Study is the adolescent part of the Trøndelag Health Study (The HUNT Study), a population-based health study inviting all inhabitants, aged 13 years and above, of primarily the northern part of Trøndelag County (former Nord-Trøndelag) in the central part of Norway. The HUNT study has collected data in four subsequent surveys every 11th year over 1984–2017,1 but collections of adolescent data, aged 13–19 years, started for the first time in 1995.

The first three waves of The Young-HUNT Study were described in the original cohort profile.2 The first survey, Young-HUNT1 (YH1), was performed in 1995–97 (n = 8983, response rate 88%) as a part of the HUNT2 Survey. The Young-HUNT2 9YH2) survey was a 4-year follow-up of the youngest Young-HUNT1 participants (13–15 years). The Young-HUNT3 (YH3) survey was performed in 2006–08 as part of the HUNT3 Survey (n = 8200, 78.4%).

The Young-HUNT Study is a school-based survey primarily in the age range 13–19 years, and participant invitations are based on schools’ class lists of all registered school pupils, therefore also including a few 12- and 20-year-olds. As illustrated in Figure 1, The Young-HUNT allows longitudinal follow-up into adulthood, as well as linkage to a wide range of regional and national health registries by means of the unique identification number allocated to all Norwegian residents.1 All current residents ≥13 years of age in former Nord-Trøndelag have been invited to the surveys: HUNT2 (1995–97, 74 208 participants, 78.0%) and HUNT3 (2006–08, 58 999 participants, 70.1%).3