__NOTOC__ The Busselton Health Study is a long-term , on-going health

cohort study A cohort study is a particular form of longitudinal study that samples a cohort (a group of people who share a defining characteristic, typically those who experienced a common event in a selected period, such as birth or graduation), performing ...

of residents of the Western Australian city of

Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...

. Over 20,000 Busselton residents have participated in surveys concerning such health topics as

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

pulmonary function Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is a complete evaluation of the respiratory system including patient history, physical examinations, and tests of pulmonary function. The primary purpose of pulmonary function testing is to identify the severity ...

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

, and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, resulting in over 400 publications. The program was initiated by

Kevin Cullen Kevin Cullen (born May 1, 1959) is an American journalist and author. He was a member of ''The Boston Globes 2003 investigative team. ''The Boston Globe'' as an institution won a Pulitzer Prize for ''Public Service'' for coverage of the sexu ...

, a local general practitioner, and is administered by the Busselton Population Medical Research Institute, which was established in 2000 as the Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation, and the School of Population and Global Health,

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. Data from the study was used in a 1996 paper in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' showing some of the first genetic links to asthma, along with a 1999 paper in the ''

New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. It is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals as well as the oldest continuously published one. Hist ...

'' that was the first to describe the impact of the newly discovered HFE gene causing

HFE hereditary haemochromatosis Hereditary haemochromatosis type 1 (HFE-related Hemochromatosis) is a genetic disorder characterized by excessive intestinal absorption of dietary iron, resulting in a pathological increase in total body iron stores. Humans, like most animals, h ...

on a population with normal rates of symptoms.

Projects

The Busselton Health Survey has included the following projects: *1966, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1978, and 1981: Cross-sectional comprehensive surveys of all adults on the

Electoral roll An electoral roll (variously called an electoral register, voters roll, poll book or other description) is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broke ...

(3,400–4,000 participants) *1967, 1970, 1973, 1977, and 1983: Cross-sectional comprehensive surveys of school students (high-school only in 1977, in which there were 556 participants; about 1,600 in all other years) *1987: Cross-sectional comprehensive surveys of all people aged over 65 (1,120 participants) *1990: Cross-sectional respiratory questionnaire of all adults on the electoral roll (3,800 participants) *1992: Family asthma survey (250 families with two parents and two children) *1994–1995: Followup of all participants in cross-sectional surveys from 1966 to 1983 (5,715 participants) *2005–2008: Survey of the changing prevalence of asthma and

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

(over 2,900 adults and 1,500 children) *2007–present: The Prevalence of Sleep Disordered Breathing *2007–2008: Participated in the international Burden of obstructive lung disease study (more than 600 participants aged over 40) *2008–2010: Busselton Diabetes Study, based on

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Diabetes Study (200 people with diabetes and 200 matched controls *2010–2021: Busselton Healthy Ageing Study (over 5,100 people born between 1946 and 1964) *2019–2023: Busselton Respiratory Study (aiming to recruit over 3,000 adults)

References

External links

*{{official website, http://bpmri.org.au Busselton 1966 establishments in Australia Epidemiological study projects Cohort studies Australian medical research Health in Western Australia

Projects

See also

References

External links