About HUNT - The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study
About HUNT
The Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) is Norway's largest collection of health data from a population. Data and samples were obtained through four population studies - The first one starting in 1984 and the last one ending in 2019.
230,000 people from the county of Trøndelag have participated with questionnaire data, and and almost 120,000 participants have submitted biological samples consisting of one or more of the following: blood, urine, saliva, feces. Even more than 120.000 have contributed with anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, blood pressure and many other measurements.
HUNT Research Centre is localized in Levanger, Norway, and coordinates The HUNT Study. The Centre is part of NTNU, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Public Health and Nursing.
HUNT Research Centre is ISO-9001 certified.
Population health data since 1984
The HUNT1 Survey was carried out in 1984-1986 to establish the health history of 75,000 people in Nord-Trøndelag County.
The HUNT2 Survey, carried out in 1995-1997, focused on the evolution of the health history of 74,000 people in Nord-Trøndelag County. This included blood sample collection from 65,000 people.
The HUNT3 Survey was completed in 2008. 93,210 people from Nord-Trøndelag County were invited to participate in the study and a over half of them, 48,289 people, did.
The HUNT4 Survey collected data and samples between 2018-2019. 56.044 people from Nord-Trøndelag County participated, and for the first time the inhabitants of Sør-Trøndelag County were invited to answer a questionnaire.
As the counties of Nord- and Sør-Trøndelag merged in 2020, the study is now known as The Trøndelag Health Study.
The Young-HUNT Study is the adolescent part of HUNT, including participants aged 13-19 years. Data gathering took place in the Young-HUNT1 Survey (1995-97), the Young-HUNT2 Survey (2000-01), the Young-HUNT3 Survey (2006-08) and the Young-HUNT4 Survey (2017-2019).
Biobank and Databank
HUNT Research Centre collaborates with national and international research groups on some of the important health topics facing our world today using the most modern techniques and our state of the art biobank.
Today, the HUNT Study is a database with health survey data about approximately 120,000 people.
Repeated examinations and follow-up of the same population make it possible to ascertain changes in health and vital status at individual and family levels.
Genetics and HUNT
For all participants where this was feasible, DNA was extracted from blood samples and GWAS analyses performed. The K.G. Jebsen Centre for Genetic Epidemiology uses the HUNT genetic data for research on genomic variation in populations. The data are stored in HUNT Cloud. The
Merging with other registries
The HUNT Study is reinforced and supplemented by possibilities for research projects of merging HUNT data with information from registries at the regional and national level. Additionally, Statistics Norway provides necessary information from The Population Census Register and The Family Register to create a genealogical database ("family tree").
Research
Our purpose here at HUNT is to facilitate research leading to new knowledge about public health. Researchers associated with Norwegian institutions can apply for access to HUNT material. Researchers from other countries are welcome to apply in cooperation with a Norwegian Principle Investigator. The research projects must be approved by an ethics committee.