Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (Dermatological Component)

July 13, 2020 updated by: Ashar Dhana, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
To determine the relationships of dietary factors with the subsequent risk of dermatological diseases (such as skin cancers and inflammatory or autoimmune dermatoses) in a cohort of female registered nurses and male health professionals.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study population consisted of two ongoing cohorts: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS). The NHS began in 1976 when 121,700 female nurses aged 33-55 years and residing in the United States responded to a baseline questionnaire. The HPFS began in 1986 when 51,529 male health professionals aged 40-75 years and residing in the United States completed a similar baseline questionnaire. Study investigators sent follow-up questionnaires biennially to participants to update information on past medical history as well as lifestyle factors.

Follow up was started in 1984 for the NHS and 1986 for the HPFS when diet was measured with an expanded food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Participants in the NHS responded to an ~130 item semi-quantitative FFQ in 1984, 1986, and then every four years thereafter, while those in the HPFS responded to a similar FFQ in 1986 and then every four years thereafter. The FFQ collected information on average intake of each food item over the past year. It also specified a common serving size for each item. Participants could select from one of nine intake frequency choices, ranging from less than once per month to six or more times per day. Participants also provided information on current use and dose of multivitamins and use of other vitamin supplements.

For both cohorts, investigators repeatedly collected and updated information on several anthropometric and lifestyle factors such as weight, smoking status, alcohol use, coffee intake, and physical activity level. Information was also collected on several major risk factors for skin disease such as family history of melanoma, number of arm moles, natural hair color, sunburn susceptibility as a child or adolescent, number of lifetime blistering sunburns, type of tan after repeated sun exposure as a child or adolescent, and cumulative ultraviolet flux since baseline.

Study subjects reported new diagnoses biennially. After obtaining permission from participants, their medical and pathological records were acquired. Study physicians blinded to questionnaire information reviewed these records to confirm diagnoses

The study was approved by the institutional review boards of both Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

173229

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

See "Detailed Description"

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

-Participants of these two cohorts

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with missing data on dietary intake at baseline
  • Participants with a prior history of cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer)
  • For skin cancer, non-white participants because of low risk of skin cancer (such as melanoma) and small numbers.
  • For melanoma, participants with in-situ melanomas, which comprise tumours restricted to the epidermis of the skin.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Nurses' Health Study
See "Detailed Description"
Other: Nutrient Intake
Dietary nutrient intake (such as folate) and supplemental nutrient intake (such as folic acid)
Health Professionals Follow-Up Study
See "Detailed Description"
Other: Nutrient Intake
Dietary nutrient intake (such as folate) and supplemental nutrient intake (such as folic acid)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Multiple skin diseases
Time Frame: Skin disease/cancer [ NHS: Time Frame: 1984 - 2010 ] [ HPFS: Time Frame: 1986 - 2010 ]. Person time contribution from date of return of questionnaire to date of first report of skin disease/death/end of follow-up (whichever came first)
Includes skin cancer, psoriasis, and other inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases.
Skin disease/cancer [ NHS: Time Frame: 1984 - 2010 ] [ HPFS: Time Frame: 1986 - 2010 ]. Person time contribution from date of return of questionnaire to date of first report of skin disease/death/end of follow-up (whichever came first)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

Collaborators

Brown University
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 11, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 15, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

August 18, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 15, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 13, 2020

Last Verified

July 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CA186107

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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