title: Cohort profile: The promotion of breastfeeding intervention trial (PROBIT).
abstract: The PROmotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) is a multicentre, cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in the Republic of Belarus, in which the experimental intervention was the promotion of increased breastfeeding duration and exclusivity, modelled on the Baby-friendly hospital initiative. Between June 1996 and December 1997, 17,046 mother-infant pairs were recruited during their postpartum hospital stay from 31 maternity hospitals, of which 16 hospitals and their affiliated polyclinics had been randomly assigned to the arm of PROBIT investigating the promotion of breastfeeding and 15 had been assigned to the control arm, in which breastfeeding practices and policies in effect at the time of randomization was continued. Of the mother-infant pairs originally recruited for the study, 16,492 (96.7%) were followed at regular intervals until the infants were 12 months of age (PROBIT I) for the outcomes of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity; gastrointestinal and respiratory infections; and atopic eczema. Subsequently, 13,889 (81.5%) of the children from these mother-infant pairs were followed-up at age 6.5 years (PROBIT II) for anthropometry, blood pressure (BP), behaviour, dental health, cognitive function, asthma and atopy outcomes, and 13,879 (81.4%) children were followed to the age of 11.5 years (PROBIT III) for anthropometry, body composition, BP, and the measurement of fasted glucose, insulin, adiponectin, insulin-like growth factor-I, and apolipoproteins. The trial registration number for Current Controlled Trials is ISRCTN37687716 and that for ClinicalTrials.gov is NCT01561612. Proposals for collaboration are welcome, and enquires about PROBIT should be made to an executive group of the study steering committee (M.S.K., R.M.M., and E.O.). More information, including information about how to access the trial data, data collection documents, and bibliography, is available at the trial website (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/social-community-medicine/projects/probit/).
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Rita.Patel@bristol.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oken
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bogdanovich
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Matush
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Zinaida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sevkovskaya
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Beverley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chalmers
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Ellen D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Hodnett
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vilchuck
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKSchool of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, USA, The National Research and Applied Medicine Mother and Child Centre, Minsk, Belarus, Belarussian Ministry of Health, Minsk, Belarus, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Departments of Pediatrics & Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University Faculty of Medicine, Montreal, Canada and MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology (CAiTE), School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D003071:Cognition; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009035:Mothers; D009909:Oral Health; D002094:Republic of Belarus; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors