Whitehall II
The first Whitehall study, set up in 1967, included 18,000 men in the British Civil Service. It showed that men in the lowest employment grades were much more likely to die prematurely than men in the highest grades. Furthermore, these socio-economic inequalities in health did not appear to be fully accounted for by differences in well-known risk factors, such as smoking.
The Whitehall II (WII) study, also known as the Stress & Health Study, was established in 1985 to explore the relationship between socio-economic status, stress and cardiovascular disease, this time also including women. A cohort of 10,308 participants aged 35-55, of whom 3,413 were women and 6,895 men, was recruited from the British Civil Service in 1985. Since this first wave of data collection, self-completion questionnaires and clinical data have been collected from the cohort every two to five years with a high level of participation. As a consequence, the WII study is currently very well placed to answer questions about how previous and current circumstances affect health and quality of life in an ageing cohort. To this end, the WII study continues to collect data in order to examine the interrelationships between socioeconomic biological, psychosocial, and behavioural factors in the ageing process, and identify key determinants of late life depression, cognitive decline, chronic disease, and physical functioning. Data collection is intended to continue until 2030.
- Start Year
- 1985
- Supplementary Information
-
The Whilehall II study is a member of the following networks:
- HALCyon (Healthy Ageing across the Life Course)
- ERFC (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration)
- IPD-Work Consortium ("Individual-participant-data meta-analysis of working populations")
- LEAD Consortium (Leadership in Epidemiological Analysis of longitudinal Diabetes-related data)
- IL6R MR Consortium (Interleukin-6 Receptor Mendelian Randomisation Analysis)
- ICBP (International Consortium for Blood Pressure)
Visit WH-II
| Investigators | Contacts |
|---|---|
|
|
Design
- Study design
- Cohort
- Follow Up
-
The whole cohort has been invited to fill in a comprehensive self-completion questionnaire and to attend the research clinic at 5-year intervals, which has been reduced to a 3-years interval from 2012. A postal self-completion questionnaire was sent to participants between clinic phases up to 2006.
- Supplementary Information
Marker Paper
Marmot M, Brunner E. Cohort Profile: the Whitehall II study. Int J Epidemiol. 2005 Apr;34(2):251-6. Epub 2004 Dec 2.
PUBMED 15576467
Recruitment
- Recruitment Target
-
- Individuals
Number of Participants
- Number of Participants
- 10,308
- Number of Participants with Biological Samples
- 10,308
Access
Availability of data and biosamples
| Possible Access to Data | |
| Possible Access to Biosamples | |
| Other |
Timeline
Whitehall II population
The Whitehall II population consists of civil servants (men and women) aged 35–55 years working in the London offices of 20 Whitehall departments in 1985–88.
Selection Criteria
- Minimum age
-
35
- Maximum age
-
55
- Newborns
- Twins
- Countries
-
- United Kingdom
- Territory
-
Central London, England.
- Ethnic Origin
-
- Health Status
-
Recruitment
- Sources of recruitment
-
- General population
- General Population
-
- Volunteer enrolment
- Participants from Existing Studies
-
Number of Participants
- Number of Participants
- 10,308
- Number of Participants with Biological Samples
- Supplementary Information about selection criteria
-
Phase 1: 10 308 participants (3413 women and 6895 men)
Phase 2: 8132 participants
Phase 3: 8815 participants
Phase 4: 8628 participants
Phase 5: 7870 participants
Phase 6: 7355 participants
Phase 7: 6967 participants
Phase 8: 7173 participants
Phase 9: 6761 participants
Phase 10: 277 participants
Phase 11: 6318 participants
Data Collection Events
| # | Name | Description | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |
Phase 1
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. n= 10308 |
1985 | 1988 |
| 1 |
Phase 2
|
Follow up of participants by postal questionnaire. n=8132. |
1989 | 1990 |
| 2 |
Phase 3
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. n= ... |
1991 | 1994 |
| 3 |
Phase 4
|
Follow up of participants by postal questionnaire. n=8628. |
1995 | 1996 |
| 4 |
Phase 5
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. n= ... |
1997 | 1999 |
| 5 |
Phase 6
|
Follow up of participants by postal questionnaire. n=7355. |
2001 | 2001 |
| 6 |
Phase 7
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. Home ... |
2002 | 2004 |
| 7 |
Phase 8
|
Follow up of participants by postal questionnaire. n=7173. |
2006 | 2006 |
| 8 |
Phase 9
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. Home visit by ... |
2007 | 2009 |
| 9 |
Phase 10 (pilot)
|
A small group of Stress and Health participants were selected randomly and invited to attend the Phase 10 clinic. |
2011-02 | 2011-03 |
| 10 |
Phase 11
|
Clinic visit for medical examination and completion of a full questionnaire. Brief telephone questionnaire was administered to those who declined clinic and full questionnaire. Home visit by ... |
2012 | 2013 |
Classifications
- Socio-demographic and economic characteristics
- Lifestyle and behaviours
- Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history
- Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations
- Diseases
- Symptoms and signs
- Medication and supplements
- Non-pharmacological interventions
- Health and community care services utilization
- Death
- Physical measures and assessments
- Laboratory measures
- Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments
- Life events, life plans, beliefs and values
- Preschool, school and work life
- Social environment and relationships
- Physical environment
- Administrative information
- Cognitive functioning
- Personality
- Psychological distress and emotions
- Other psychological measures and assessments
- Life events
- Beliefs and values
- Perception of health
- Quality of life
- Life course development
- Functional limitations
- Other perception of health, quality of life and functional limitation-related information
- Tobacco
- Alcohol
- Drugs
- Nutrition
- Breastfeeding
- Physical activity
- Sleep
- Sexual behaviours and orientation
- Technological devices
- Misbehaviour and criminality
- Other and unspecified lifestyle information
Socio-demographic and economic characteristics
Lifestyle and behaviours
Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history
Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations
Diseases
Symptoms and signs
Medication and supplements
Non-pharmacological interventions
Health and community care services utilization
Death
Physical measures and assessments
Laboratory measures
Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments
Life events, life plans, beliefs and values
Preschool, school and work life
Social environment and relationships
Physical environment
Administrative information
Cognitive functioning
Personality
Psychological distress and emotions
Other psychological measures and assessments
Beliefs and values
Quality of life
Functional limitations
Tobacco
Alcohol
Nutrition