RESEARCH REPORT

The EUROSTROKE cohorts: a short description and data analytical approach

M L Bots^1,2, P C Elwood³, Y Nikitin⁴, J T Salonen⁵, A Freire de Concalves⁶, D Inzitari⁷, J Sivenius⁸, A Trichopoulou⁹, J Tuomilehto¹⁰, P J Koudstaal¹¹, D E Grobbee^1,2

¹ Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Erasmus University Medical School, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
² Julius Centre for General Practice and Patient Oriented Research, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands
³ Centre for Applied Public Health Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK
⁴ Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Siberian Branch, Institute of Internal Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia
⁵ Research Institute of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
⁶ Neurology, Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
⁷ Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
⁸ Department of Neurology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
⁹ Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece
¹⁰ Epidemiology and Health Promotion, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland
¹¹ Neurology, University Hospital Rotterdam Dijkzigt, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr M L Bots, Julius Centre for General Practice and Patient Oriented Research, University Medical Centre Utrecht, room D01.335, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht/3508 GA Utrecht, the Netherlands;
M.L.Bots{at}jc.azu.nl

This paper describes the design and methodology of the participating cohorts in the EUROSTROKE project. Information is given about the cohort sampling, its size, the follow up procedures and event classification. Information is also given about the measurement of the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk factors in each of the cohorts separately. The cohorts described are the Caerphilly study in Cardiff, United Kingdom; the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart disease study in Kuopio, Finland; the Portugal study in Coimbra, Portugal; the EPIC cohort in Athens, Greece; the Ilsa study from Firenze, Italy; the Rotterdam Study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and the Novosibirsk cohort in Novosibirsk, Russia.

Keywords: cohort; blood pressure; myocardial infarction

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