Experience of a researcher: Petra Vinke and Daan Kromhout

05-12-2019

- by Yara Poel


Petra Vinke (PhD-student, UMCG) has used Lifelines data to develop a diet quality assessment method,  and evaluate it’s relation to cardiovascular diseases and comorbidities. For this research on public health she works together with professor Daan Kromhout at the department of Epidemiology at the University Medical Center Groningen. They share why and how they used Lifelines-data for their research.

Why did you choose to work with Lifelines?
“We chose to work with the Lifelines data because of the great variety in available data, including data on diet and lifestyle and various health outcomes. Furthermore, the large sample size and prospective design of the cohort give the Lifelines dataset great scientific value. With this data, almost anything is possible.”

How do you experience the collaboration with Lifelines?
“The collaboration with Lifelines has been easy and straight forward from the beginning. We do clearly notice that over the years, the experience of Lifelines has grown, which has benefited our collaboration. Examples include the fast and adequate support in cases of  data issues, as well as the initiatives from Lifelines to support sharing  of methods and knowledge among Lifelines users.”

To which results has the used data contributed?
"So far, the Lifelines Food Frequency Questionnaire data has contributed to the development of a diet quality score (named the Lifelines Diet Score), which is now available for other researchers as well. The Lifelines Diet Score has already been applied in studies investigating the association between diet quality and various health outcomes. For example, we have identified an age-dependency in the association of diet quality and weight change: especially in young adults (aged 18-29), those who have a poor diet quality gain more weight."

Do you want to read more? Click here for the publication