Discovering data available in the British Regional Heart Study (BRHS)

Detailed information on data collected in the BRHS is available in searchable data documentation files and data dictionaries which can be found below for the various study time points and types of follow-up.  All the documentation files and data dictionaries can also be found in BRHS Library of key documents. 

For each study time point where a physical examination was conducted data documentation is available for:

• Questionnaires
• Physical examination measures
• Blood biomarkers
• Derived variables (from data collected at that time point)
• Any other data available at that time point

For other time points where only a postal questionnaire was carried out,  questionnaire data documentation files and data dictionaries are available. The questionnaire data documentation files include data notes and the questionnaire coding protocol for open-ended questions.

Physical examinations

The BRHS cohort participants were invited to four physical examinations between 1978 and 2018. Information on the data collected at each follow-up can be found by visiting each of the links below:

• BRHS baseline physical examination 1978-80 (Q1)
• BRHS 20 year follow-up physical examination1998-2000 (Q20)
• BRHS 30 year follow-up physical examination 2010-2012 (Q30)
• BRHS 40 year follow-up physical examination 2018 (Q40)

NOTE: Study time points for the follow-up physical examinations are often referred to as Q1, Q20, Q30, Q40 which correspond to the Baseline and the 20,30 and 40 year follow-up study time points.

Postal Questionnaires

BRHS postal questionnaires (links below) have been annotated with the BRHS variable names and can be viewed by clicking on the links in the table below (note: some documents are still in preparation).  Questionnaire data notes and coding protocols include 1) information on known data inconsistencies/errors which are important to know about when analysing the data and 2) the coding instructions and category codes used in the coding of open-ended questions.

Data dictionaries contain a list of the questionnaire questions with their BRHS variable names, value range, number of participants who responded to each question and number with a missing response. Category labels corresponding to the numerical data codes in the data can be found directly by viewing the questionnaires. In the case of open-ended questions, the meaning of the data codes can be found in the Questionnaire data notes and coding protocol files.

BRHS Follow up for morbidity through General Practice (GP) records (i.e. primary care records) - from Baseline (1978-80) to 2022

For more information on types of events included in the primary care record review, diagnostic criteria, details of diagnoses used by the reviewers, how the data was collected and the data collection forms used you can click on the links below:

•               BRHS Baseline (1978-80) to 2023 GP(Primary Care) Record review V1
•               BRHS Record Review form -example
•               BRHS Record Review Diagnoses details / list of searchable definition terms
•               GP record review  - Validation forms (additional event confirmatory information)