China Kadoorie Biobank of 0.5 million people: survey methods, baseline characteristics and long-term follow-up

Large blood-based prospective studies can provide reliable assessment of the complex interplay of lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors as determinants of chronic disease.

The baseline survey of the China Kadoorie Biobank took place during 2004-08 in 10 geographically defined regions, with collection of questionnaire data, physical measurements and blood samples. Subsequently, a re-survey of 25,000 randomly selected participants was done (80% responded) using the same methods as in the baseline. All participants are being followed for cause-specific mortality and morbidity, and for any hospital admission through linkages with registries and health insurance (HI) databases.