title: The Early Determinants of Adult Health Study.
abstract: This issue of the Journal features collaborative follow-up studies of two unique pregnancy cohorts recruited during 1959-1966 in the United States. Here we introduce the Early Determinants of Adult Health (EDAH) study. EDAH was designed to compare health outcomes in midlife (age 40s) for same-sex siblings discordant on birthweight for gestational age. A sufficient sample of discordant siblings could only be obtained by combining these two cohorts in a single follow-up study. All of the subsequent six papers are either based upon the EDAH sample or are related to it in various ways. For example, three papers report results from studies that significantly extended the 'core' EDAH sample to address specific questions. We first present the overall design of and rationale for the EDAH study. Then we offer a synopsis of past work with the two cohorts to provide a context for both EDAH and the related studies. Next, we describe the recruitment and assessment procedures for the core EDAH sample. This includes the process of sampling and recruitment of potential participants; a comparison of those who were assessed and not assessed based on archived data; the methods used in the adult follow-up assessment; and the characteristics at follow-up of those who were assessed. We provide online supplementary tables with much further detail. Finally, we note further work in progress on EDAH and related studies, and draw attention to the broader implications of this endeavor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA ; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA ; The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Life Course Studies, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Susser
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buka
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: Data Coordinating Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA ; College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA ; Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Andrews
authors.affiliation: The Center for Research on Women and Children's Health, The Child Health and Development Studies, Public Health Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Cirillo
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA ; The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Life Course Studies, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Factor-Litvak
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gillman
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Division of Women's Health, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA ; Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: P Ivey
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA ; The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Life Course Studies, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Lumey
authors.affiliation: The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Life Course Studies, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA ; Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: I W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: McKeague
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA ; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA ; Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Michels
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA ; The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Life Course Studies, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.affiliation: The Center for Research on Women and Children's Health, The Child Health and Development Studies, Public Health Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cohn
keywords: EDAH; early determinants of adult health; pregnancy cohorts; sibling pairs