Final evaluation report from the feasibility studies. Deliverable Report D11.5
Creators: name: Elonheimo, Hanna
name: Andresson, Anna-Maria
name: Baber, Ronny
name: David, Madlen
name: Fiddicke. Ulrike
name: Gerofke, Antje
name: Haverinen, Elsi
name: Agergaard Holmboe, Stine
name: Koponen, Jani
name: Korkalainen, Merja
name: Lermen, Dominik
name: Rantakokko, Panu
name: Ruokojärvi, Päivi
name: Sepai, Ovnair
name: Stewart, Lorraine
name: Tolonen, Hanna
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: human biomonitoring
health survey

description: National health examination surveys (HESs), dietary surveys and disease specific health surveys are conducted in many European countries in parallel to Human Biomonitoring (HBM) studies. Both studies use similar infrastructure and data collection methods, i.e., population samples, questionnaires, and collection and analysis of biological samples. Until now, only in few countries HBM modules are included in national HESs.<br> Within the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), three feasibility studies were conducted to evaluate possibilities and obstacles in combining HBM and health studies. Studies were from Finland, Germany, and UK/England.<br> The Finnish study, KouBio-KUOPIO study, collected information on health and chemical exposures of the 5th and 6th grade students (10-12 years) from primary schools. The German study targeted adults (40-79 years) by integrating the Human Biomonitoring (HBM) module to the existing cohort of LIFE Adult study. In the UK study, an HBM module was linked to Health Survey for England (HSfE), and the target group included both adults (20-49 years) and adolescents (16-19 years). In Finland and Germany fieldwork has been concluded, whereas in England the planning phase has been completed and the fieldwork is still to be conducted.<br> Feasibility studies identified several opportunities for combining HBM and health studies. By combining HBM modules to HESs higher participation rates can be obtained, and additional information from HBM can be combined to other health data from HESs. Questionnaires can be more extensive when combined to HESs, and participants more motivated to answer when they are already used to HESs and furthermore can receive their health information as an incentive. Also, access to biobank samples can provide an advantage.<br> Obviously, some obstacles were encountered when conducting the feasibility studies. Preparatory phase was rather time consuming in all the surveys. This was often due to ethical and GDPR issues. The COVID-19 pandemic caused major challenges to the studies. It was learned that children can be a challenging group to motivate, and often motivating of participants requires a lot of effort from the research team. The HBM4EU standard questionnaires can be problematic since they are not always specific to the study region or target population. Obtaining funding is often difficult.<br> In the future combining HBM studies and HESs could be a feasible and cost-effective way to conduct biomonitoring studies. Strong partnership and communication between the actors are crucial for successful activities. Partnering with an established HES can offer both benefits and challenges for the data collection, timetables, and reporting. The policy value of HBM studies might be enhanced with relatively short transition time between collection, analysis and reporting of results. It should be acknowledged that thus far most of the HES/HBM studies have focused on adults; one reason for this being the strict ethical regulations regarding minors.