Cohort profile: design and methods in the eye and vision consortium of UK Biobank

Disease areas:

• eye

Last updated:

19 November 2025

Author(s):

Sharon Yu Lin Chua, Dhanes Thomas, Naomi Allen, Andrew Lotery, Parul Desai, Praveen Patel, Zaynah Muthy, Cathie Sudlow, Tunde Peto, Peng Tee Khaw, Paul J Foster, Tariq Aslam, Sarah A Barman, Jenny H Barrett, Paul Bishop, Peter Blows, Catey Bunce, Roxana O Carare, Usha Chakravarthy, Michelle Chan, Sharon Yl Chua, David P Crabb, Philippa M Cumberland, Alexander Day, Parul Desai, Bal Dhillon, Andrew D Dick, Cathy Egan, Sarah Ennis, Paul Foster, Marcus Fruttiger, John Ej Gallacher, F David, Jane Gibson, Dan Gore, Jeremy A Guggenheim, Chris J Hammond, Alison Hardcastle, Simon P Harding, Ruth E Hogg, Pirro Hysi, Pearse A Keane, Peng T khaw, Anthony P Khawaja, Gerassimos Lascaratos, Andrew J Lotery, Tom Macgillivray, Sarah Mackie, Keith Martin, Michelle Mcgaughey, Bernadette Mcguinness, Gareth J Mckay, Martin Mckibbin, Danny Mitry, Tony Moore, James E Morgan, Zaynah A Muthy, Eoin O'sullivan, Chris G Owen, Praveen Patel, Euan Paterson, Tunde Peto, Axel Petzold, Jugnoo S Rahi, Alicja R Rudnikca, Jay Self, Sobha Sivaprasad, David Steel, Irene Stratton, Nicholas Strouthidis, Cathie Sudlow, Dhanes Thomas, Emanuele Trucco, Adnan Tufail, Veronique Vitart, Stephen A Vernon, Ananth C Viswanathan, Cathy Williams, Katie Williams, Jayne V Woodside, Max M Yates, Jennifer Yip, Yalin Zheng

Publish date:

21 February 2019

Journal:

BMJ Open

PubMed ID:

30796124

DOI:

10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025077

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe the rationale, methods and research potential of eye and vision measures available in UK Biobank.

PARTICIPANTS: UK Biobank is a large, multisite, prospective cohort study. Extensive lifestyle and health questionnaires, a range of physical measures and collection of biological specimens are collected. The scope of UK Biobank was extended midway through data collection to include assessments of other measures of health, including eyes and vision. The eye assessment at baseline included questionnaires detailing past ophthalmic and family history, measurement of visual acuity, refractive error and keratometry, intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal biomechanics, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the macula and a disc-macula fundus photograph. Since recruitment, UK Biobank has collected accelerometer data and begun multimodal imaging data (including brain, heart and abdominal MRI) in 100 000 participants. Dense genotypic data and a panel of 20 biochemistry measures are available, and linkage to medical health records for the full cohort has begun.

FINDINGS TO DATE: A total of 502 665 people aged between 40 and 69 were recruited to participate in UK Biobank. Of these, 117 175 took part in baseline assessment of vision, IOP, refraction and keratometry. A subgroup of 67 321 underwent OCT and retinal photography. The introduction of eye and vision measures in UK Biobank was accompanied by intensive training, support and a data monitoring quality control process.

FUTURE PLANS: UK Biobank is one of the largest prospective cohorts worldwide with extensive data on ophthalmic diseases and conditions. Data collection is an ongoing process and a repeat of the baseline assessment including the questionnaires, measurements and sample collection will be performed in subsets of 25 000 participants every 2-3 years. The depth and breadth of this dataset, coupled with its open-access policy, will create a powerful resource for all researchers to investigate the eye diseases in later life.