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Cohort Profile: The Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort (MEC) study

2018; Oxford University Press; Volume: 47; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/ije/dyy014

1464-3685

Kok Hian Tan, Linda Wei Lin Tan, Xueling Sim, E Shyong Tai, Jeannette Jen-Mai Lee, Kee Seng Chia, Rob M. van Dam,

Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet

Why was the cohort set up?Non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) mellitus, coronary artery disease, stroke and cancers, are major contributors to ill health across the world including Asia.These conditions are multi-factorial in origin, often involving complex gene-environment interactions.Singapore is a multi-ethnic island state and provides a useful model to evaluate determinants of the development of chronic diseases in Asian ethnic groups.Three major Asian ethnic groups are represented in Singapore: Chinese, Malays and Indians.The Singapore Multi-Ethnic Cohort (MEC) allows us to better understand how genes and lifestyle may influence health and diseases differently in persons of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicity.As these ethnic groups reside in the same Singapore setting, confounding of ethnic differences by differences between countries is avoided.Through the MEC, we hope to improve preventive and therapeutic measures, as well as provide information to advance public health and health education policies for Asian populations. Who is in the cohort?The MEC is a closed cohort which included a total of 14 465 male and female adults.2][3] The combined cohort has a good representation of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnic groups.The SP2 and SCCS2 recruited 8340 participants from four previous cross-sectional studies: Thyroid and Heart Study 1982-84, 4 National Health Survey 1992, 5 National University of Singapore Heart Study 1993-95 6 and National Health Survey 1998. 7All studies involved a random sample of Singapore residents aged 21 years and above, with disproportionate sampling stratified by ethnicity to increase the numbers for ethnic minorities, i.e.Malays and Indians.In addition to the participants from SP2 and SCCS2, a further 6125 Singapore residents were recruited into the MEC study through public outreach and referrals from existing cohort members.Invitation to participate was open to any Singapore citizens or long-term residents of age 21 to 75 years.People with a history of heart disease, stroke, cancer and renal failure were excluded at baseline, as these are the outcomes of interest in this prospective cohort for non-communicable diseases.Recruitment drives were carried out at community events, mosques and temples in addition to household visitation to enrich the proportion of Malays and Indians.