Public notice 2022
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the University of Turku are investigating the narrowing of intergenerational welfare and health inequalities in a project that uses genome data collected in THL’s population health studies.
Have you participated in one of the following population health studies conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) or its predecessor, the National Public Health Institute of Finland (KTL):
• National FINRISK study, years of research 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012
• Health 2000 and Health 2011 surveys
• FinHealth 2017 study?
In its population health studies, THL has collected data and samples for its statutory tasks. The tasks are related to the monitoring and research of the health and welfare of the population.
The national FINRISK data collection was carried out once every five years in the period 1992–2012 in the following regions in Finland: North Karelia region, North Savo region, Turku and Loimaa, and five municipalities in Southwest Finland (Aura, Oripää, Punkalaidun, Pöytyä and Ypäjä), the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa, Kainuu region, and Northern Ostrobothnia region (formerly the province of Oulu).
The data collection for the Health 2000 study and its follow-up, the Health 2011 study, was carried out in the period 2000–2001 and 2011–2012 in a total of 80 municipalities around Finland.
The national FinHealth 2017 study was carried out in a total of 50 municipalities around Finland in 2017.
The above mentioned studies involved collecting data through interviews, questionnaires and a comprehensive health examination, which also included blood sampling. Genome was also determined from the DNA isolated from the blood samples.
This notice concerns persons who have given a blood sample in connection with the data collection of the studies mentioned above.
THL will launch the INVEST Full Population Data research project in cooperation with the University of Turku. The project is related to the INVEST flagship project (the Inequalities, Interventions and a New Welfare State project). The objective of the project is to produce new knowledge, also unique at the international level, on genetic mechanisms in an aim to narrow intergenerational welfare and health inequalities.
The research project will utilise the genome data of the above mentioned THL population health studies for the purpose for which they were originally collected. The data will be examined from a new social sciences perspective. The data on the genome will be summarised as a risk score describing the hereditary risk of a particular disease or other health-related factor.
Although each person’s genome is unique, individuals cannot be identified based on their risk score.
The score indicating the genetic risk is combined with register data describing the socio-economic status and health of the individual and their social environment, i.e. their close relatives. A detailed description of the combined register data is available on the website of the study.
Website of the INVEST Full Population Data research project
The THL working group on research ethics issued a favourable opinion on the study on 15 June 2021.
The study will start in 2022 and end by the end of 2028.
THL and the University of Turku are responsible for the processing of personal data. Further information on the processing of your personal data and your rights is available on the website of the study.
For more information, you can contact us by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 029 524 6000 (switchboard) on weekdays at 10–15. More information on population health studies conducted by THL is available on the study webpages:
