Abstract:
Well-designed birth cohorts are able to estimate prevalence/distribution of various health events/outcomes, and to link early-life origins with adult health and function. The past two decades have seen a surge in the establishment of new birth cohorts and their accompanying research. We discussed distinct designs of current birth cohort studies, reviewed their achievements, and highlighted insights obtained from birth cohort studies, as well as challenges we are facing. Birth cohort studies are providing increasing opportunities to identify determining factors for short- and long-term health, yielding substantial evidence to uncover biological mechanisms of diseases and phenotypes, and providing further insights for public health. Dynamic monitoring, accurate measurements, long-term follow-ups, and collaborative efforts are warranted in new birth cohorts to elucidate the nature of life course relationships in contemporary generation.
摘要:
精心设计的出生队列能够估计各种健康事件/结果的患病率/分布,并将早期生命起源与成人健康和功能联系起来。在过去的二十年中,新出生队列的建立及其伴随的研究激增。我们讨论了当前出生队列研究的不同设计,回顾他们的成就,并强调了从出生队列研究中获得的见解,以及我们面临的挑战。出生队列研究为确定短期和长期健康的决定因素提供了越来越多的机会,提供大量证据来揭示疾病和表型的生物学机制,并为公共卫生提供进一步的见解。动态监测,精确测量,长期随访,在新的出生队列中,有必要进行协作努力,以阐明当代生命历程关系的本质。