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Cohort of Swedish Men – COSM

 

The large population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men (COSM) was established in 1997 in central Sweden.

In the fall of 1997, all men born between 1918 and 1952 in Västmanland and Örebro counties received an invitation to participate in the study. In total 100,303 men were sent the invitation. The invitation included the same self-administered questionnaire used for the follow up of women in SMC in 1997. The questionnaire Pdf, 896 kB. (pdf) included information about modifiable lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity, smoking, weight, use of dietary supplements, some prescribed drugs, and alcohol intake in addition to some gender specific questions. A total of 48,850 (49 % response rate) men returned a filled-out questionnaire. After exclusions, 45,906 men remained in the cohort.

In 2008, a second questionnaire was sent to all members of COSM who were still alive: 37,861 men. The 2008 Health questionnaire Pdf, 172 kB. (pdf) collected information on general health status, disease diagnoses, current weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, dental health, medication use, sleep habits, urine and bowel habits, family history of selected diseases, stress, and social support. The response rate was
78 % resulting in 29,503 valid answers.

An additional third questionnaire was sent in 2009 to those cohort members who completed the 1997 questionnaire: 29,068 men and
a 90 % response rate. The 2009 Lifestyle questionnaire Pdf, 443 kB. (pdf) collected information on diet and alcohol intake (132-item food frequency questionnaire), dietary supplements, smoking, physical activity, and sun habits. After removing invalid answers there were 26,100 participants left.

A third follow up of COSM was performed in 2019, using the same questionnaires as in 2008/2009. In January 2019, the Health questionnaire Pdf, 231 kB. (pdf) was sent to all living participants in the cohort: 26,392 men, of which 72 % responded. The number of valid answers was 18,916. In September 2019, the Lifestyle questionnaire Pdf, 418 kB. (pdf) was sent to all still-living respondents of the men who answered the Health questionnaire: 18,746 men, resulting in a response rate of 86 % and 16,166 valid answers.

COSM include GWAS-data for approximately 31,000 participants. This will facilitate studies of genetic susceptibility and of interplay/interactions between lifestyle factors and genes in the development of chronic diseases. For more information you are welcome to contact the SIMPLER Office.

Contact

For questions regarding the infrastructure, cohorts, or the SIMPLER biobank, you are welcome to contact the SIMPLER Office at simpler@surgsci.uu.se.

For questions regarding the precossing of personal data at Uppsala University, please contact the data protection officer. This is easily done through the form available on the university's Data protection policy webpage.