title: Cohort Profile: Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) study.
abstract: The Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) study included participants with early symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip or knee and evaluated clinical, radiographic and biochemical variables in order to establish the course, prognosis and underlying mechanisms of early symptomatic osteoarthritis. A total of 1002 participants aged 45-65 years, with symptomatic OA characterized by pain of knee and/ or hip, entered the cohort in the period October 2002 to September 2005. They were included at or within 6 months of their first visit to the general practitioner for these symptoms. An overview of measures that are included in the study can be found on the website [www.check-research.com]. On the basis of their presenting symptoms, participants were divided into two groups. Participants with mild symptoms visited the research centre at years 0, 2, 5, 8 and 10 (variable visiting group) and participants with more serious symptoms visited the research centre each year (annual visiting group). After 7 years, only 105 participants (10%) had dropped out; their baseline characteristics did not differ significantly from those of other participants. CHECK is a valuable source of information on early symptomatic OA, that allows the examination of high-quality data on clinical, radiographic and biochemical variables. The CHECK steering group welcomes collaboration with national and international colleagues. Requests for collaboration or access to data can be sent to [checkreu@umcutrecht.nl].
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands, j.wesseling@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wesseling
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boers
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Max A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Viergever
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Care Centre for Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim K H A
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Hilberdink
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Floris P J G
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Lafeber
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Department of Psychiatric, and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Reade, Centre for Rehabilitation and Rheumatology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dekker
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johannes W J
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Bijlsma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006615:Hip / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007717:Knee / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011859:Radiography; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers