Medisinsk fødselsregister som utgangspunkt for livsløpsstudier

Abstract

Health and functional capacity in adult age are founded on experiences during the whole life course. The Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) is the natural starting-point for population based life course epidemiology in Norway. In this outline, examples of life course studies are provided, combining data from MBRN and other sources. Such linkage is possible in Norway, due to the registers’ use of the unique national identification number assigned to all national residents. MBRN has several advantages. First, it is feasible to establish complete cohorts of all who were born in Norway since 1967. Second, the MBRN contains a multitude of data of interest. Third, the establishment of sibship files is possible in MBRN. MBRN contains births from 1967 onwards, and 40 years of follow up is in principle possible to-day.