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Health, biomarkers, genetics and epigenetics data

Understanding Society collects information about participants’ social and economic circumstances, attitudes and beliefs and it also gathers information about their health.

As part of the main survey, from Wave 1 onwards participants are asked a number of questions about their general health. In Wave 2 and Wave 3 adult participants received a follow-up health assessment visit from a registered nurse. A range of bio-medical measures were collected from around 20,000 adults, which included blood pressure, weight, height, waist measurement, body fat, grip strength and lung function.

Blood samples were also taken at these visits and biomarker data is available including:

  • Measures of fat in the blood (cholesterol and triglycerides)
  • An indicator of diabetes (Glycated haemoglobin HbA1c)
  • Measures of inflammation and the immune system– the body’s way of responding to harm (High sensitivity c-reactive protein, fibrinogen and CMV seropositivity)
  • Measures of anaemia (Haemoglobin and ferritin)
  • Liver and kidney function
  • Hormones that build up the body – (testosterone, DHEAs, IFG-1).

In addition to these biomarkers, the health assessment data also includes:

  • Proteomic panels for cardiometabolic health and neurological processes. 
  • Epigenetic clocks have been constructed.

Polygenic scores are available in the Special Licence version of the dataset.  

Wave 16 biological data collection

In Wave 16 (going in to the field in early 2024) we will be collecting further biological data from our participants. This will include blood and stool samples, blood pressure, weight, height and waist measurements.

Genetics and epigenetics data

A genome-wide scan (Illumina human core exome array) has been conducted on DNA samples from approximately 10,000 people.  Methylation profiling has been conducted on DNA samples from approximately 3650, consisting of 1425 individuals from the British Household Panel Survey component of Understanding Society and another 2230 from the General Population Sample. Using the Illumina Methylation EPIC BeadChip we have integrated over 850,000 Methylation sites across the genome.

Genetics and epigenetics data are available to researchers by application only

More information

Listen to Biomarkers and genetic data podcast here.

Watch Professor Michaela Benzeval talk about integrating biological and social data for research and how to use biological data in social science research.

  

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