PLoS One,
Questionnaire data
Adding extra layers of detail
We regularly send web-based questionnaires to around 330,000 participants for whom we have an email address. These are also available to participants without an email address via the participant website. These questionnaires aim to collect new or more detailed data for which longitudinal repeats are important or information on health outcomes that is not easily available via linkage to electronic health records, for example on chronic pain and mental health. We plan to release web-based questionnaires approximately twice a year, and you can find out more below. Please note that the content of all UK Biobank questionnaires has been developed with permission from original authors and should not be reproduced.
Diet questionnaire
- A 24 hour dietary recall questionnaire (Diet WebQ) which was circulated on 4 occasions
- Collaborator: Professor Valerie Beral et al University of Oxford
Cognitive function
- A series of online puzzles and questions assessing cognitive function
- Collaborator: UK Biobank cognitive neuroscience expert working group
Occupational History
- A detailed questionnaire assessing work history over the lifetime
- Collaborator: Dr Lesley Rushton, Imperial College London
Mental Health
- A questionnaire to examine lifetime and current mental health
- Collaborator: UK Biobank mental health outcomes expert working group
Digestive health
- A questionnaire to find out why some people develop digestive problems and others do not
- Collaborator: Dr Miles Parkes, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge et al.
Pain
- A questionnaire to find out more about the types, severity and duration of chronic pain in UK Biobank participants
- Collaborator: Professor David Wynick, Univeristy of Bristol, et al.
Food preferences
- A questionnaire about biological and environmental factors that influence food preferences or lifestyle choices and their association with health
- Collaborator: Dr Nicola Pirastu, University of Edinburgh, et al.
Future questionnaires
Topics for future questionnaires include:
- Mental well-being
- Sleep outcomes
- Neurodevelopmental issues
- Cognitive function: visual memory
Related publications
The British Journal of Psychiatry,
Cognitive performance and functional outcomes of carriers of pathogenic copy number variants: analysis of the UK Biobank
Kimberley Kendall et. al.
European Journal of Nutrition,
Ultra-processed food consumption and risk of obesity: a prospective cohort study of UK Biobank
Fernanda Rauber et. al.
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
Hematological parameters and prevalence of anemia in white and British Indian vegetarians and nonvegetarians in the UK Biobank
Tammy Y N Tong et. al.Proposing a new web-based questionnaire
Email ukbiobank@ukbiobank.ac.uk if you would like to submit a proposal to collect new information via a web-based questionnaire.
Proposals should include the following:
- A strong scientific rationale for use in the UK Biobank population (e.g. giving consideration to the age range of the cohort, likely prevalence of the expected exposure/outcome you wish to measure; ability for prospective and repeated evaluation; examples of the range of research questions this measure will uniquely help to address, etc.)
- Published evidence of the validity and reliability of the measure in population-based research settings.
- A detailed specification of the content of the questionnaire and what is expected of the participant (e.g. time taken to complete questionnaire, special requirements or exclusions).
- Results from pilot data, if available.
The decision to implement these proposals is based on scientific merit and will be taken by UK Biobank. Please note that, should such proposals be approved, they will need to be scheduled in with our planned activities (outlined above).
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