[Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP). Concept, design and selected results].

The Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) is a population-based project conducted in Northeast Germany. The main purpose is to assess prevalence and incidence of common risk factors, subclinical disorders and clinical diseases, and to investigate associations and interactions among them. The first SHIP cohort included 4,308 individuals at baseline (SHIP-0, response 68.8%) and 3,300 after 5 years (SHIP-1, response 83.6%). Currently, data are being collected for the 11-year follow-up (SHIP-2). In parallel, baseline examinations of a second, independent cohort (SHIP-TREND) are being conducted. The assessments range from interviews to laboratory analyses; somatometric and blood pressure measurements; dental, dermatological, cardio-metabolic and various ultrasound examinations; to more demanding methods such as cardiopulmonary exercise tests, sleep monitoring and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging. Analyses of baseline SHIP-0 data revealed valuable information on the health status of the West Pomeranian population, and generally confirmed the hypothesis of an accumulation of common risk factors and diseases in this region. The population-based character of the study and the profound information on potential exclusion criteria allow for analyses of population-representative reference values. The comprehensive data set offers various opportunities for association studies to gain new insight into the complex relations among risk factors, subclinical and clinical disease parameters. SHIP is an established population-based project conducted in Northeast Germany with a very comprehensive characterization of study subjects. After the data collection for SHIP-2 and SHIP-TREND is finished, a comprehensive data set will be available that describes complex interactions of health determinants.