HELIUS

    Characteristic

    Description

     

           Name of the cohort 
     

    Healthy Life in an Urban Setting (HELIUS)

           Description / aim of the cohort 

    The HELIUS study is a prospective cohort study, including six ethnic groups (including the Dutch as a reference) living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The general objective of the HELIUS study is to study the causes of (the unequal burden of) diseases across these ethnic groups, with emphasis on three disease categories: cardiovascular diseases, mental health and infectious diseases.

     

           Description of the cohort population (age, specific characteristics, e.g. adults with cardiovascular disease, low SEP) 

    Adults aged 18 64 years and 65 years and older.

    The cohort was sampled from the Amsterdam municipal registry and stratified by ethnic origin: Dutch, South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese, Ghanaian, Turkish, and Moroccan.

           Location of the cohort

    Amsterdam, the Netherlands

     

           Institution

    Amsterdam UMC, location AMC

     

           Cohort size (n)

    24,780 residents of Amsterdam, including:

             4,671 Dutch

             3,366 South-Asian Surinamese

             4,458 African Surinamese

             802 Other Surinamese

             2,733 Ghanaian

             4,198 Turkish

             4,501 Moroccan

             51 Other backgrounds

     

    See cohort profile update:

    Galenkamp et al, 2025

     

           Start year of the cohort

    2011

           Follow-up (years and n)

    Baseline: 2011 - 2015

    First follow up: 2019 2022

     

           Types of variables (e.g., health behaviours, psychosocial factors, clinical health outcomes, demographic characteristics)

           Measurement methods (e.g., questionnaires, clinical assessments, biosamples)

    Types of variables, measurement methods, and variable categories

    (summarised, non-exhaustive, and structured by domain)

     

    Demographic characteristics

              Includes demographic information, migration background, ethnicity, migration generation, educational level, and other socioeconomic indicators.

              Measurement methods: questionnaires and registry linkages.

     

    Health behaviours

              Includes lifestyle factors such as smoking, substance use, diet, physical activity, sleep, and medication use.

              Measurement methods: questionnaires, interviews, and movement/activity monitors in substudies.

     

    Psychosocial factors and mental health

              Covers domains such as psychological well-being, stress and adverse life events, coping/mastery, social support, experiences of discrimination, acculturation, personality characteristics, and health literacy.

              Measurement methods: questionnaires and interviews.

     

    Clinical health outcomes

              Includes anthropometry, cardiovascular and cardiometabolic health, kidney and liver function, and other clinical parameters.

              Measurement methods: physical examination, medical history, and registry linkages.

     

    Biological samples (biobank)

              Includes biochemical markers, genetic information, metabolomics/proteomics/lipidomics, urine analyses, faecal microbiome profiles, and oral microbiome profiles.

              Measurement methods: collection of blood, urine, faeces, DNA, and swab samples.

     

    Substudies (in-depth measurements in subsamples)

              Includes additional in-depth measurements such as serological markers, genetic profiles, metabolic profiles, physiological assessments, liver function (Fibroscan), vascular function (HRV/BRS), and COVID-19 related measurements.

              Measurement methods: substudy-specific procedures.

     

    Registry linkages

              Includes mortality data, healthcare utilisation, medication and vaccination records, disease incidence, COVID-19 testing and infection records, and cancer outcomes.

              Measurement methods: linkages with data sources such as Statistics Netherlands (CBS), general practitioner databases, hospital registries, and health insurance data.

     

    For a complete overview of available variables, see the cohort profiles:

    Snijder et al., 2017

    Galenkamp et al., 2025

     

    or consult the HELIUS Data Request Form via the Collaboration Policy:

    https://heliusstudy.nl/wp-content/uploads/HELIUS-Collaboration-Policy-2025.docx

     

           Oral health variables (questionnaire/self-reported)

    Oral health questions were not included in the baseline questionnaire. During the first follow-up, participants who provided oral swabs completed an additional oral health questionnaire covering topics such as:

              toothbrushing and tongue-cleaning frequency

              mouthwash use

              self-rated oral health

              presence of natural teeth

              dental and oral hygiene service use

              dental treatments received (e.g., check-ups, fillings, professional cleaning, periodontal treatment)

     

           Oral health variables (clinically assessed)

    NA

           Oral health variables (biological, e.g., microbiome data, saliva)

    Oral swabs (~2,000 samples), analysed for oral microbiome profiles.

           Reference to design paper

    Stronk et al., 2013

    Snijder et al., 2017

    Galenkamp et al., 2025

     

           Website

    www.heliusstudy.nl

     

           Procedure for requesting data

    heliuscoordinator@amsterdamumc.nl

           Procedure for data storage

    See HELIUS collaboration Policy via:

    https://heliusstudy.nl/wp-content/uploads/HELIUS-Collaboration-Policy-2025.docx

     

           Associated costs for data requests (yes/no)

    yes

           Contact person / principal investigator

    Henrike Galenkamp

    heliuscoordinator@amsterdamumc.nl