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IJE Advance Access originally published online on August 6, 2008
International Journal of Epidemiology 2009 38(3):663-669; doi:10.1093/ije/dyn159
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association © The Author 2008; all rights reserved.

Cohort Profile: The 1969–73 Vellore birth cohort study in South India

B Antonisamy1,*, P Raghupathy2, Solomon Christopher1, J Richard1, P S S Rao1, David J P Barker3 and Caroline H D Fall3

1 Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
2 Department of Child Health, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
3 MRC Epidemiology Resource Center, University of Southampton, UK.

* Corresponding author. Department of Biostatistics, Christian Medical College, Vellore 632 002, India. E-mail: antoni@cmcvellore.ac.in

Accepted 10 July 2008

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


   How did the study come about?
 
High fertility and infant mortality rates have been features of India for several decades. A systematic study of the incidence of pregnancy and longitudinal observation of the babies was required to assess the scale of these problems, evaluate the causal factors and identify babies at high risk of mortality. Such longitudinal studies were lacking in India. Thus, in 1969–73, Professor Rao and Inbaraj from the Christian Medical College, Vellore established a longitudinal study of maternal health and pregnancy outcomes.1–5 It included mothers living within specified urban and rural areas of the North Arcot district. Besides measurements at birth, the babies were followed up during infancy for a variety of outcomes. Subsequently, the children were followed up between the ages of 6–8 years, and 10–15 years to study the effects of prenatal factors on physical growth, development and health during childhood and adolescence.

Following publications from a number of studies linking . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   What did the study cover?
 

   Who is in the sample?
 

   How often have they been followed up?
 
Pregnancy, birth and infancy (1969–74)
Childhood and adolescence (1977–80 and 1982–88)
Young adulthood (1998–2002)

   What was the attrition like?
 

   What has been measured?
 
Maternal nutrition, birth measurements and follow-up during infancy
Physical growth during childhood and adolescence
Cardiovascular risk factors in young adulthood

   What has the Vellore birth cohort study found?
 

   What are the main strengths and weaknesses?
 
Strengths
Weaknesses

   Can I get hold of the data? where can I find more?
 

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