Revista espanola de salud publica
Population-based cohorts on health and well-being in childhood and adolescence: a descriptive systematic review and comparative analysis
By Cabrera-León A, Fernández-Robredo P, Marín-Menéndez A and 1 others.
Abstract
Objective
Population-based cohorts make it possible to study health and well-being trajectories during childhood and adolescence, their determinants, and their usefulness for informing public policies. The aim of this paper was to identify, compare, and synthesise population-based cohorts on child and adolescent health and well-being at national and international level.
Methods
We conducted a descriptive systematic review and comparative analysis of cohorts with a reference publication published in or after 2010, in Spanish or English, including more than 2,000 participants and using either prospective or retrospective longitudinal designs. Hospital-based, local, or disease-specific cohorts were excluded. Cohorts were identified through specialised sources (Birthcohorts.net, CLOSER, CLS-UCL, and the EU Child Cohort Network), bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), and snowball searching. Information was extracted on institutional context, governance, design, contents, data access, scientific output, and policy impact. No formal methodological quality or risk-of-bias assessment was performed, as the cohort as a research infrastructure was the unit of analysis.