Children of the 1950

The ‘Children of the 1950s’ cohort study is designed to investigate influences in early life – biological and social circumstances – on health in later life.

Letters have been sent to over 1,500 of the 'Children of the 1950s' participants to ask if they would get involved in the Scottish Family Health Study (SFHS). The SFHS is recruiting 50,000 Scots whose health will be tracked to give greater understanding of why common illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, mental health problems and stroke often run in families. To find out more about the SFHS click here

The study is based on a survey carried out in December 1962 of all Aberdeen primary school children born between 1950-56. These children took standardised reading tests and provided information about parental occupation and number of siblings. Information was obtained from school records that included standard school tests at age 7, 9 and 11 years, and from school health records on height and weight. Information about maternal characteristics (including height and age), course of pregnancy and birth details including birth weight and gestational age was taken from the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank.

In the late 1990s the value of this information was realised and the research team attempted to follow up the original participants. The whereabouts of 98.5% of 12150 of those who took part were traced, with 81% still living in Scotland and 73% in Grampian. A postal questionnaire was sent to over 11,000 of those participants who could still be contacted, with a response rate of 63%. Since then the research team have also carried out anonymised linkages to routinely collected medical records from the Scottish Morbidity Records System.

A full description of the study has been published in the paper:

Leon DA, Lawlor DA Clark H, Macintyre S. Cohort profile: the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2006;35:549-552. PubMed

Table 1 Summary of what has been measured

Phase Source Measurement/information

Aberdeen Child Development Survey (1962–64) Survey of primary school children aged 6–12 years conducted in December 1962 Identification details, father's occupation, number older and younger siblings, scores from 3 kinds of reading tests

School records 1962–64 IQ at 7, 9 and 11 years

Aberdeen Maternity Hospital (AMH) obstetric records and birth certificate Details of course of pregnancy, type and duration of delivery, birth weight, gestational age, multiplicity, occupation of mother, father and mother's premarital education, marital status and age at marriage

School medical records Height, weight, visual and hearing acuity at primary school entry. Also laterality (handedness)

Teachers' questionnaires conducted March 1964 Scale of minor behavioural problems (Rutter B scale)

Brief questionnaire to children March 1964 Socio-metric data—each child being asked to nominate three other children in their class that they liked the most

Record linkages carried out since 1999 National Health Service Central Registry Date of death and copy of death certificate (1962 onwards)

Scottish Morbidity record systems: (SMR01—acute admissions); (SMR04—psychiatric); (SMR06—cancer registration) Anonymised data on date and diagnostic codes (up to six diagnoses relating to each admission) for hospital admissions from these sources from the early 1980s onwards

SMR02 (obstetric) hospital admissions and Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank Anonymised linkage of all deliveries to female cohort members occurring in Scotland and Aberdeen. Information includes socio-economic data at time of pregnancy/delivery, height and gestational age and birth weight of offspring

Postal questionnaire conducted 2001–03 Questionnaire mailed by third parties (ISD Scotland, Health Authorities in England and Wales) to current addresses Self-reported health, height, weight, doctor diagnosed diseases, symptoms, smoking, drinking, number of children, occupation, education, income, date of menarche and menopausal information, information about family circumstances in childhood