The Boston Area Community Health (BACH) Survey is a community-based, random sample, epidemiologic cohort of n = 5502 Boston (MA) residents.
The baseline BACH Survey (2002-05) was designed to explore the mechanisms conferring increased health risks on minority populations with a particular focus on urologic signs/symptoms and type 2 diabetes. To this end, the cohort was designed to include adequate numbers of US racial/ethnic minorities (Black, Hispanic, White), both men and women, across a broad age of distribution. Follow-up surveys were conducted ∼5 (BACH II, 2008) and 7 (BACH III, 2010) years later, which allows for both within- and between-person comparisons over time. The BACH Survey's measures were designed to cover the following seven broad categories: socio-demographics, health care access/utilization, lifestyles, psychosocial factors, health status, physical measures and biochemical parameters. The breadth of measures has allowed BACH researchers to identify disparities and quantify contributions to social disparities in a number of health conditions including urologic conditions (e.g. nocturia, lower urinary tract symptoms, prostatitis), type 2 diabetes, obesity, bone mineral content and density, and physical function. BACH I data are available through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Central Repositories (www.niddkrepository.org).
Written by:
Piccolo RS, Araujo AB, Pearce N, McKinlay JB. Are you the author?
Institute for Health Services and Disparities Research, New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA, USA; Department of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Reference: Int J Epidemiol. 2012 Dec 5. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1093/ije/dys198
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23220718
