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The German National Cohort (NAKO) is a multidisciplinary, population-based cohort study that aims to investigate the development and aetiology of diseases, identify risk factors and enhance early detection and prevention of diseases. Between 2014 and 2019, a total of 205,415 subjects aged 20-74 years were recruited and examined at 18 study centres across Germany. A 5-year-follow-up examination of over 135.000 participants was conducted from 2019 to 2024, and the 10-year-follow-up of approx. 85.000 participants is currently underway. All participants not examined in study centres for follow-ups receive health questionnaires. To get additional information on incident diseases and changes in exposures, all participants receive interim health questionnaires between follow-up examinations.
NAKO combines social science approaches with epidemiology, as assessments include a face-to-face interview, self-administered questionnaires, a wide range of biomedical examinations, the collection of various biological samples such as serum, plasma, buffy coat, RNA, urine, stool, and, for some participants, repeated magnetic resonance imaging (30,861 at baseline). Additionally, secondary data sources are used to gather further information, including data from German cancer registries and death registries for mortality follow-up.
Due to the longitudinal design, the large sample size and the broad examination program, NAKO provides information on determinants of population health and disease. Thus, it is a valuable resource for researchers from different disciplines. Since spring 2024 researchers from the European Union/ the European Economic Area can apply to access NAKO data.
This session is open for all projects working with NAKO-Data or NAKO-infrastructure. Proposals from the following areas will be assessed equally: survey methodology and survey practice at NAKO; survey statistics of NAKO; NAKO-data governance: documentation, archiving, and access; artificial intelligence and automated methods with NAKO-Data, substantive applications.