Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP)

Summary

The aim of SHIP is to examine the complex nature of health. Therefore extensive health data is available, which allows for an investigation of the prevalence and incidence of diseases and their risk factors. Data focuses on those diseases which are population relevant (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, liver and biliary tract diseases, neurological diseases, thyroid diseases, dental diseases, lung diseases, addiction and risk behaviour). The survey enables researchers to study predictors, risk factors and underlying mechanisms, as well as complex interaction between those factors and living situations. Besides extensive subjective and objective health data (Biomarkers inclusive), a variety of socio-demographic and psycho-social factors are assessed which extend the analysis potential of the SHIP data. The follow-up of participants allows for an investigation of the progress of subclinical findings. Furthermore, health trends in the region can be compared with the SHIP-0 and the SHIP-Trend-0 data. Power of the data to carry out longitudinal analysis may be limited due to sample size in the follow-up surveys (SHIP-1 & SHIP-2). The potential to investigate health in old age is limited as SHIP baseline samples (SHIP-0 & SHIP-Trend-0) cover an age range of 18 to 79 years.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same
Cohort study

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Self administered questionnaire
Other: Physical examination, tests, blood and urine samples

Access to data

Conditions of access
Data is available for scientific, non-profit use. However, data is primarily available for members and employees of the Community Medicine Network at the University of Greifswald and for their co-workers. Thus, obtaining the data is expensive.

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
anonymised microdata

Formats available
SPSS, STATA

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1, SHIP-0: Data was collected from 1997-2001 and had a sample size of 4,308 individuals. Wave 2, SHIP-1: Data was collected from 2002-2006 and had a sample size of 3,300 individuals. Wave 3, SHIP-2: Data was collected from 2008-2012 and had a sample size of approximately 1,700 individuals. Wave 4, SHIP-Trend-0: Data was collected from 2008-2011 and had a sample size of approximately 3,200 individuals.

First year of collection
1997-2001

Stratification if applicable
age, sex

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Pomerania (northeast region in Germany)

Age range
baseline sample: 20-79 years

Statistical representativeness
Regional representative, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The survey aims at investigating the complexity of health, thus comprehensive health data is assessed including an oral health examination, a medical examination, a health-related interview, and a health- and risk factor-related questionnaire. The oral health examination includes the teeth, periodontium, oral mucosa, craniomandibular system, and prosthodontics. The medical examination includes blood pressure measurements, electrocardiography, echocardiography, carotid, thyroid and liver ultrasounds, neurological screening, blood and urine sampling. The computer-aided health-related interview includes cardiovascular symptoms, utilisation of medical services, health-related behaviours, and socioeconomic variables. The self-administered questionnaire comprises housing conditions, social network, work conditions, subjective well-being and individual consequences of German reunification. Health information for the population relevant to diseases under study is given particular attention (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, liver and biliary tract diseases, neurological diseases, thyroid diseases, dental diseases, lung diseases, addiction and risk behaviour).

Linkage

Standardisation
Majority of instruments are standardised questions, scales, test and measurements.

Possibility of linkage among databases

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Raw data is cleaned by project organisers and checked for inconsistencies.

Breaks
The survey was first planned as a cross-sectional study, but follow-up of the first sample (SHIP-0) after 5 years (SHIP-1) and after 12 years (SHIP-2) was conducted. The Institute for Community Medicine has been in charge of the survey since the beginning. The majority of indicators are available throughout all samples; however, the modules have been altered.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Not possible to evaluate

Governance

Contact information
Dietrich Alte
Institut für Community Medicine
Walther-Rathenau-Str. 48
17487 Greifswald Germany Phone: +49(0)3834-867713
Email: Alte(at)uni-greifswald.de
Url: http://www.medizin.uni-greifswald.de/cm/fv/english/ship_en.html

Timeliness, transparency
The scientific use file is available about 2 years after data collection.