The Whitehall study is a ground-breaking longitudinal (prospective cohort) study

Question

The Whitehall study is a ground-breaking longitudinal (prospective cohort) study that clearly demonstrated the association between social determinants of health (the social gradient) and morbidity and mortality (cardiovascular disease) in a population of British civil servants (Breeze et al., 2001; Chandola et al., 2008; Marmot et al., 1978).

In no more than 1,000 words please address the following short-answer questions:

What is the sampling frame for each phase of the Whitehall study (Whitehall I and II)?

How was disease risk assessed (both in data collection and analysis) in each of the three studies, and why?

To what extent can the results of each of the three studies can be generalised to other populations (include reasons for your answer)?

Would it be feasible to conduct a similar study in Australia using an existing cohort such as the 45 and up study cohort, or the Australian Women’s longitudinal study cohort? Why or why not?

Assessment criteria Knowledge and understanding of prospective cohort studies Knowledge and understanding of social determinants of health Knowledge an understanding of the concepts of sampling and bias Use of mathematical concepts to describe sampling frame and disease risk Interpretation of the findings of the Whitehall study and its generalisability to other populations Academic presentation including accurate referencing using APA style

Explanation / Answer

The Whitehall study is a prospective cohort study that clearly demonstrated the association between social determinants of health and morbidity and mortality caused by cardiovascular disease in a population of British civil servants. Whitehall I Study was carried out among 18,000 male civil servants aged between 20 and 64, and was conducted over a period of ten years, beginning in 1967. Whitehall II Study was conducted from 1985 to 1988 among 10,308 civil servants aged 35 to 55, of whom two thirds were men and one third women.

The sampling frame includes complete list of everyone we want to study. Therefore, the sampling frame in Whitehall I study was male civil servants aged between 20 and 64 and the sampling frame in Whitehall II study was all civil sevants aged 35 to 55.

Whitehall studies were conducted at a time when awareness of the relationship between social inequality, work stress, and poor health was not understood clearly. The Whitehall Studies thus set out to investigate the complex relationships among income, work status, psychosocial support, health behaviors, and resulting morbidity and mortalityThe Whitehall I Study assessed the association between socioeconomic status and all-cause mortality and focused on British civil servants. They were particularly interested in mortality caused by coronary heart disease (CHD) in men employed in the lower levels of the British Civil Service.

The results of Whitehall study can be generalized to other populations. This is because it was conducted on a large cohort of study participants and the social gradient in health is not a phenomenon confined to the British Civil Service.

The Australian Women’s longitudinal study cohort involves three age cohorts of Australian women (younger, born 1973–1978, aged 18–23 in 1996; mid-age, born 1946–1951, aged 45–50 in 1996; older, born 1921–1926, aged 70–75 in 1996) who were selected from the database of the Health Insurance Commission (HIC). The sampling frame is large and different social class exists between them. So a sudy similar to Whitehall to determine the association between social determinants of health and morbidity and mortality caused by cardiovascular disease can be undertaken in this study cohort.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.