client logo
Version: 1.0.1 | Published: 27 Mar 2026 | Updated: 13 days ago

British Regional Heart Study (BRHS)

Dataset

Summary

Description:
Established in 1978-80, with 7735 male participants, the BRHS study have repeated assessments of the men at ages. 40-59, 60-79, 72-91 and 79-98. Health outcomes all-cause mortality and CVD morbidity, physical disability and frailty from questionnaires
Identifier:
10.5255/UKDA-SN-9402-1
Access Tier:
Controlled
Health Theme:
  • Cancer
  • Health products, technologies, data & research
  • Health systems, quality, care models & determinants
  • Life-course health: maternal, newborn, child, adolescent & ageing
  • Mental, neurological & substance use
  • Noncommunicable diseases – metabolic & cardiopulmonary
  • Nutrition & food security
Health Category:
  • Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
  • Data on factors impacting on health, including socio-economic, environmental & behavioural determinants of health
  • Human genetic, epigenomic & genomic data
  • Other human molecular data such as proteomic transcriptomic, metabolomic, lipidomic & other omic data
Number of Unique Individuals:
7735

Documentation

Documentation:
The British Regional Heart Study (BRHS) is a long-term cohort investigating the causes of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in men and seeking to understand the effect of co-morbidities on CVD and ageing. The BRHS provides a geographically and socially representative cohort for the prospective investigation of CVD in British men spanning over four decades. Established in 1978-80, with 7735 male participants, the BRHS study has benefited from four repeated assessments of the men at ages in middle (40-59 years) and later life (60-79, 72-91 and 79-98 years). Participants have been followed up at four life stages for a wide range of health outcomes, including all-cause mortality and CVD morbidity, physical disability and frailty using GP records and participant questionnaires. This unique ageing cohort with extensive phenotyping, genotyping and detailed follow-up will contribute and allow us to study healthy cardiovascular ageing including prevention of CVD, heart failure, stroke, diabetes and related disabilities (frailty, dementia) in older age and to add to our understanding of the biological ageing process on CVD risk. The survey data are accessible to bona fide researchers by applying direct to the study - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology-health-care/research/primary-care-and-population-health/research/ageing/british-regional-heart-study-brhs/brhs-2 For further information on study description and data dictionaries please see the study webpages - https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology-health-care/research/primary-care-and-population-health/research/brhs

Coverage

Spatial

Spatial Coverage:
  • United Kingdom
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales

Temporal

Start Date:
01 January 1978
End Date:
29 September 2025
Frequency:
STATIC
Date of Latest Release:
28 April 2025
Date of First Release:
08 October 2024
Temporal Aggregation:
Continuous

Provenance

Origin

Purpose:
Study
Collection Situation:
  • Primary care - Clinic
  • Community
  • Home
Image Contrast:
Not stated
Method of Collection:
Paper-based

Access and Governance

Usage

Is Referenced By:
10.5255/UKDA-SN-9402-1
Data Use Requirements:
Not-for-profit organisation use only

Access

Jurisdiction:
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales [Cymru GB-CYM]
Data Controller:
University College London and Newcastle University
Data Processor:
University College London and Newcastle University
Delivery Lead Time:
2-4 weeks
Legal Basis:
Research use only, General research use
Health Data Access Body:
The British Regional Heart Study was funded by the British Heart Foundation. We thank the BRHS team for collecting the data and acknowledge the valuable contributions from the cohort participants and their GPs. Linked data have been provided by patients and collected by the National Health Service as part of their care and support.

Format and Standards

Language:
English
Format:
cvs
Conforms To:
LOCAL
Coding System:
LOCAL

Data Distribution

Data Status:
Available
Distribution:
Data is available through UK Data Service http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-9402-1

Observations

Name
Population Type
Value
Description
Variable Measured
Unit Code
Observation Date
Number of Records
Minimum Typical Age
Maximum Typical Age
Persons
7735
In 1978-80, 7735 male participants were recruited into the BRHS study. The Study has benefited from three further repeated assessments of the men at ages 60-79 (n=4752), 72-91 (n= 1722) and 79-98 years (n=667 ) and multiple postal questionnaires on lifestyle
count
01 January 1978
7735
40
100