Boost your research by linking our raw data collection with raw data collected or registered elsewhere. For example to verify self-reported illnesses or self-reported drug treatments with medical or pharmacy registries, or to add more detailed information about employment history or causes of death. 

Linkage of Lifelines data is possible if the aim is to perform research on healthy ageing (based on the informed consent signed by our participants). For this it is important to take into account the rules regarding the irreversible pseudonimization of participants, encryption of data, use of trusted third parties (TTPs) and controlled data access.

Onderzoek van Eelko Hak

In 2017 is Lifelines samen met het Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy (GRIP) gestart met het PharmLines Initiative. Dankzij dit initiatief kunnen Lifelines-gegevens worden gekoppeld aan gegevens over geneesmiddelen die zijn verstrekt door openbare apotheken. Het initiatief is mogelijk door een samenwerking met de InterAction Data Base (IADB.nl). Dit is een database met gedetailleerde informatie over afgeleverde geneesmiddelen, inclusief informatie over de patiënt en de arts die het middel heeft voorgeschreven. De koppeling tussen gegevens van Lifelines en IADB.nl maakt meer onderzoek mogelijk, bijvoorbeeld naar de effecten en risico’s van het gebruik van bepaalde medicijnen.

Current linkage possibilities

For certain linkages, agreements between data sources and TTPs, as well as standard linkage procedures, are already in place, see the list below. A new research project requiring one of these linkages can therefore be started without delay, upon approval by all parties. If a project requires a linkage that is not yet in the list, please contact us. There are many possibilities and we can give you an estimate on the timeline and the costs.

• Lifelines + CBS (Statistics Netherlands)
• Lifelines + IADB.nl (Pharmlines, via CBS) 
• Lifelines + PALGA (Dutch registry of histo- and cytopathology, via ZorgTTP)
• Lifelines + NKR (Dutch cancer registry, via ZorgTTP)
• Lifelines + NIVEL (Netherlands institute for health services research, via CBS) -> 
• Lifelines + Environmental data linked to home addresses (Air quality, LISA-data, GECCO)

Coming soon

• Lifelines + AHON (GP/Geriatric registry, via ZorgTTP)

How to apply for linkage

If you would like to use linkage in your research project, you need to follow some procedures. For CBS and IADB.nl data there are set procedures, see below. To link Lifelines to other databases or registries, please contact us. We are happy to help you with the needed procedures. Below the procedure of data linkage with:

Recent publications

Lifelines + CBS (Statistics Netherlands)

• The influence of unhealthy behaviours on early exit from paid employment among workers with a chronic diseases: a prospective study using the Lifelines cohort

Lifelines + IADB.nl (Pharmlines)

• Concordance assessment of self-reported medication use in the Netherlands threegeneration Lifelines Cohort Study with the pharmacy database IADB.nl: The PharmLines Initiative

Lifelines + NIVEL 

• Developing a clinical prediction rule for repeated consultations with functional somatic symptoms in primary care: a cohort study.
• Gender and sex independently associate with common somatic symptoms and prevalence of chronic disease

Lifelines + GIS

• Do social relations buffer the effect of neighborhood deprivation on health-related quality of life? Results from the Lifelines Cohort Study
• Description and determinants of the faecal resistome and microbiome of farmers and slaughterhouse workers: a metagenome-wide cross-sectional study › Lifelines

Recent applications

Lifelines + Statistics Netherlands/IADB

• The stress hormone Cortisol and the development of Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Diseases (COMEDI study)
• Sex disparities in the prescription of statins and their associations with lipid parameters: the Pharmlines Initiative

Lifelines + INKL/PALGA

• The fecal microbiome as predictor of diagnoses prior to their clinical onset
• Hematopoietic phenotypes and clonal hematopoiesis in the elderly population (MDS-RIGHT - Providing the right care to the right patient with MyeloDysplastic Syndrome at the right time).
• Genetic predisposition for lung cancer

Lifelines + environmental data

• Exploring longitudinal associations between the food and physical activity environment and weight status: natural experiments around the residential address, the work address, the secondary school address, and the home-secondary school travel route