Cohort Profile Update: The British Regional Heart Study 1978–2018: 40 years of follow-up of older British men

The British Regional Heart Study (BRHS) cohort is a socially and geographically representative population-based sample comprising men (initially aged 40-59 years) recruited from a single general practice in each of the 24 British towns representing all major British regions in 1978-80. At the 30-year follow-up, when the cohort were aged 71-92 years (2010-12), the data collection addressed a wider range of disease, health conditions and determinants relevant to CVD and healthy ageing. Cohort data were linked to area-level deprivation ('index of multiple deprivation' for England, Wales and Scotland) and hospital data [Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)]. Other measures added to the study at that time included, but were not limited to, dental health, physical function, physical activity and cells for DNA sequencing, as well as survey data relating to cognition, overall health, and behavioural and psychosocial factors, as previously described. 2 Figure