Birthcohort | Birthcohorts

Cohort, name
Tasmanian Infant Health Survey

Cohort, abbreviation
TIHS

Cohort, country
Australia

Cohort, website
http://www.mcri.edu.au/projects/I4C/default.asp

Key reference
Lancet. 1991 May 25;337(8752):1244-7

Date of filling in this questionnaire:
2021-12-23
Principal investigator(s), name
Terry Dwyer, Anne-Louise Ponsonby

Principal investigator(s), e-mail address
terry.dwyer@mcri.edu.au, annelouise.ponsonby@flore

Principal investigator(s), institution
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, the Florey Institute

Contact person(s), name
Anne-Louise Ponsonby

Contact person(s), e-mail address
annelouise.ponsonby@florey.edu.au

Main aim of cohort
The Tasmanian Infant Health Prospective cohort (TIHS) was created to investigate the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in Tasmania, Australia. Main pre-natal factors assessed retrospectively were maternal food frequency in third trimester, maternal supplementation including folate, smoking and alcohol intake and prenatal care. Infant factors/exposures anthropometry, gestation, airborne allergens-(aerosols-including hairspray, insecticides and cleaning/laundry sprays, humidity, interior mould, humidity, ventilation, heating, cooking facilities and max-min temperatures, post natal parental smoking, infant and family illnesses, baby-care, residential density, indoor pets, type infant feeding, infant sleeping patterns, clothing, bedding and time spent outdoors, immunization, SES factors, early development and neurological factors assessed at 5 weeks. Immunization, illness history and use of health services recorded in telephone interview conducted after 10weeks. Primary outcome: SIDS mortality, Secondary outcomes Atopy-Asthma (aged 7-8 and 16) hayfever, eczema, IgE food allergy and positive responses for other skin-tests aged 7-8 and RASTs aged 16. Respiratory problems such as cyanosis in infancy, bone density age 7 and 16, adiposity, cancer, diabetes, also blood pressure, fitness and physical activity at ages 7-8 and 16.

Recruited number of:
10569 children / 8729 mothers / 8729 fathers / 0 grand parents / 0 other family members

Approximate proportion of source population included
0

Source population
Other, please describe
Period of enrollment
Start: 1988-01-01, End: 1995-01-01

Enrollment period
Pre pregnancy to

Enrollment criteria, please specify
Infants at higher risk of SIDS according to a perinatal SIDS risk factor scoring system.

Exclusion criteria, please specify
Children with major congenital anomalies or serious disease.

Planned age of children at end of follow-up

Questionnaire or registry data and biological samples

General information	---------- Child age (years) at assessment ----------
	<1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	>18
Home address
School address

Birth outcomes
Birth weight	X
Birth length	X
Gestational age at birth	X
Apgar score	X
Congenital malformations	X
Stillbirth (>= 22 weeks)
Child’s sex	X
Head circumference	X
Biparietal diameter	X

Child exposures	---------- Child age (years) at assessment ----------
	<1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	>18
Breast feeding	X
Diet	X
Dietary supplements	X
Childcare attendance	X
Active smoking
Passive smoking	X
Alcohol consumption
Physical activity	X
Substance use
Medicine intake	X
Vaccinations	X
Psychological distress (e.g. bullying)
Air pollution	X
Access to green spaces	X
Built environment	X
Noise	X
Radiation, electromagnetic fields	X
Water contamination	X
Pets	X
Farm animal exposure	X
Biomarkers of exposure
Mercury
Lead
Cadmium
Arsenic
Other metals
Polychlorinated biphenyl esters
Dicloro difenil tricloroetano
Hexachlorobenzene
Brominated flame retardants
Perflouralkyl compounds
Bisphenol A
Other bisphenols
Parabens
Benzophenones
Triclosan
Phthalates
Cotinine	X

Child development and health	---------- Child age (years) at assessment ----------
	<1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	>18
Anthropometry
Weight	X							X
Height	X							X
Head circumference	X							X
Abdominal circumference	X							X
Arm circumference	X							X
Wrist circumference	X
Waist circumference	X							X
Clinical examinations
Blood pressure								X
Carotida intima media thickness
Pulse wave velocity								X
Cardiac ultrasound
Renal ultrasound
Brain MRI
Other MRI
DEXA‐scan results								X
Skin folds	X
Bio impedence
Oscilometry
Spirometry	X
Skin prick test	X
Bronchial challenge test
Reversibility test
Dental observations
Mental and neurological development
Cognitive function
School performance
Language
ADHD								X
Autism								X
Sleep disturbances
Mental health
Respiratory health
Asthma								X
Allergy								X
Allergic rhinitis								X
Eczema								X
Respiratory tract infections	X
Senses
Vision
Hearing
Musculo-skeletal health
Back pain
Neck pain
Growing pains
Sexual maturation
Tanner stage
Pubertal development stage
Age at menarche
Age at voice change
2D/4D digit ratio
Nocturnal ejaculation
Acne
Other health outcomes
Cancer															X
Diabetes
Congenital anomalies
Biomarkers of health
Nephrology (e.g. creatinine, albumin)
Thyroid hormones
Inflammatory markers (e.g. C-reactive protein cytokines)
Immunologic markers (e.g. immunoglobulines)
Cortisol
Vitamines and micronutrients
Gonadal axis hormones (e.g. testosterone, estradiol)
Metabolism (e.g. cholesterol, LDL, HDL, insulin, triglycerides)
Metabolomics
DNA methylation
Transcriptomics (mRNA, miRNA)
Genome-wide association study (GWAS)

Child biological samples	---------- Child age (years) at sampling ----------
	At birth	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	>18
Whole blood
Serum
Plasma
Buffy coat
Urine
Hair
Teeth
Nails
Saliva
Purified DNA
Purified RNA
Red blood cells
Umbilical cord blood/tissue
Blood smear
Faeces/meconium
Exhaled breathe condensate
Sputum induction
Placenta

General information
	Pre-pregnancy	During pregnancy	<1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Education
Income
Employment status
Job title
Single parenthood
Home address
Work address

Maternal characteristics related to the index pregnancy/child
Age at birth
Ethnicity
Country of birth
Planned pregnancy
Time to pregnancy
Fertility treatment
Prior spontaneous abortion (<22w)
Prior births
Ultrasound measurements
Doppler measurements
Preeclampsia
Gestational diabetes
Gestational hypertension
Gestational duration
Mode of delivery
Prenatal diagnostics
Medical termination of pregnancy

Maternal Exposures	---------- Timing of assessment ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	First trimester	Second trimester	Third trimester	Post pregnancy
Diet
Dietary supplements
Active smoking
Passive smoking
Alcohol consumption
Physical activity
Substance use
Medicine intake
Coffee drinking
Psychological distress (e.g. life-events, health behaviors, perceived stress)
Occupational exposures
Heavy lifts
Work hours
Air pollution
Access to green spaces
Built environment
Noise
Radiation, electromagnetic fields
Water contamination
Binge drinking
Pets
Farm animal exposure
Biomarkers of exposure
Mercury
Lead
Cadmium
Arsenic
Other metals
Polychlorinated biphenyl esters
Dicloro difenil tricloroetano
Hexachlorobenzene
Brominated flame retardants
Perflouralkyl compounds
Bisphenol A
Other bisphenols
Parabens
Benzophenones
Triclosan
Phthalates
Cotinine

Maternal health	---------- Timing of assessment ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	First trimester	Second trimester	Third trimester	Post pregnancy
Anthropometry
Weight
Height
Waist circumference
Clinical examinations
Blood pressure
Carotida intima media thickness
Pulse wave velocity
DEXA scans
Bioimpedence
Mental and neurological development
Mental health
Cognitive function (e.g. intelligence quotient)
Respiratory health
Asthma
Allergy
Musculo‐skeletal disease
Back pain
Neck pain
Arthritis
Other health outcomes
Cancer
Diabetes
Cardio‐vascular disease
Family history of chronic disease
Infectious disease
Fever
Autoimmune disease
Urinary symptoms
Sexual problems
Sleep disturbance
Biomarkers of health
Nephrology (e.g. creatinine, albumin)
Thyroid hormones
Inflammatory markers (e.g. C-reactive protein cytokines)
Immunologic markers (e.g. immunoglobulines)
Cortisol
Vitamines and micronutrients
Gonadal axis hormones (e.g. testosterone, estradiol)
Metabolism (e.g. cholesterol, LDL, HDL, insulin, triglycerides)
Metabolomics
DNA methylation
Transcriptomics (mRNA, miRNA)
Genome-wide association study (GWAS)

Maternal biological samples	---------- Timing of sampling ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	First trimester	Second trimester	Third trimester	Post pregnancy
Breast milk
Whole blood
Serum
Plasma
Buffy coat
Urine
Hair
Nails
Saliva
Purified DNA
Purified RNA
Red blood cells
Faeces

General information
	Pre-pregnancy	During pregnancy	<1	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Education
Income
Employment status
Job title
Single parenthood
Home address
Work address

Paternal characteristics related to the index pregnancy/child
Fertility treatment
Age at child's birth
Ethnicity
Country of birth

Paternal exposures	---------- Timing of assessment ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	During pregnancy	Post pregnancy
Diet
Dietary supplements
Active smoking
Passive smoking
Alcohol consumption
Physical activity
Substance use
Medicine intake
Coffee drinking
Psychological distress (e.g. life-events, health behaviors, perceived stress)
Occupational exposures
Heavy lifts
Work hours
Air pollution
Access to green spaces
Built environment
Noise
Radiation, electromagnetic fields
Water contamination
Binge drinking
Pets
Farm animal exposure
Biomarkers of exposure
Mercury
Lead
Cadmium
Arsenic
Other metals
Polychlorinated biphenyl esters
Dicloro difenil tricloroetano
Hexachlorobenzene
Brominated flame retardants
Perflouralkyl compounds
Bisphenol A
Other bisphenols
Parabens
Benzophenones
Triclosan
Phthalates
Cotinine

Paternal health	---------- Timing of assessment ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	During pregnancy	Post pregnancy
Anthropometry
Weight
Height
Waist circumference
Clinical examinations
Blood pressure
Carotida intima media thickness
Pulse wave velocity
DEXA scans
Bio impedence
Mental and neurological development
Mental health
Cognitive function (e.g. intelligence quotient)
Respiratory health
Asthma
Allergy
Musculo‐skeletal disease
Back pain
Neck pain
Arthritis
Other health outcomes
Cancer
Diabetes
Cardio‐vascular disease
Family history of chronic disease
Infectious disease
Fever
Autoimmune disease
Urinary symptoms
Sexual problems
Sleep disturbance
Biomarkers of health
Nephrology (e.g. creatinine, albumin)
Thyroid hormones
Inflammatory markers (e.g. C-reactive protein cytokines)
Immunologic markers (e.g. immunoglobulines)
Cortisol
Vitamines and micronutrients
Gonadal axis hormones (e.g. testosterone, estradiol)
Metabolism (e.g. cholesterol, LDL, HDL, insulin, triglycerides)
Metabolomics
DNA methylation
Transcriptomics (mRNA, miRNA)
Genome-wide association study (GWAS)

Paternal biological samples	---------- Timing of sampling ----------
	Pre-pregnancy	During pregnancy	Post pregnancy
Semen
Whole blood
Serum
Plasma
Buffy coat
Urine
Hair
Nails
Saliva
Purified DNA
Purified RNA
Red blood cells
Faeces

Comments and ideas

Comments and ideas
Papers using data from the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey are listed below, grouped by child development/health outcome: Asthma/allergic disease: • Couper D, Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T. Determinants of dust mite allergen concentrations in infant bedrooms in Tasmania. Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Jun 1998;28(6):715-23. • Ponsonby AL, Couper D, Dwyer T, Carmichael A, Kemp A. Relationship between early life respiratory illness, family size over time, and the development of asthma and hay fever: a seven year follow up study. Thorax. Aug 1999;54(8):664-9. • Ponsonby AL, Couper D, Dwyer T, Carmichael A, Kemp A, Cochrane J. The relation between infant indoor environment and subsequent asthma. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass). Mar 2000;11(2):128-35. • Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, Kemp A, Couper D, Cochrane J, Carmichael A. A prospective study of the association between home gas appliance use during infancy and subsequent dust mite sensitization and lung function in childhood. Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Oct 2001;31(10):1544-52. • Ponsonby AL, Kemp A, Dwyer T, Carmichael A, Couper D, Cochrane J. Feather bedding and house dust mite sensitization and airway disease in childhood. Journal of clinical epidemiology. Jun 2002;55(6):556-62. • Trevillian LF, Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, et al. An association between plastic mattress covers and sheepskin underbedding use in infancy and house dust mite sensitization in childhood: a prospective study. Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Apr 2003;33(4):483-9. • Trevillian LF, Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, et al. A prospective association between cocoon use in infancy and childhood asthma. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology. Jul 2004;18(4):281-9. • Andreasyan K, Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, Dear K, Cochrane J. Infant feeding and childhood atopy: does early introduction of non-milk fluids matter? Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. May 2007;18(3):250-7. SIDS: • Dwyer T, Ponsonby AL, Couper D. Tobacco smoke exposure at one month of age and subsequent risk of SIDS--a prospective study. American journal of epidemiology. Apr 1 1999;149(7):593-602. Birth anthropometry: • Andreasyan K, Ponsonby AL, Dwyer T, et al. Higher maternal dietary protein intake in late pregnancy is associated with a lower infant ponderal index at birth. European journal of clinical nutrition. Apr 2007;61(4):498-508. • Ellis JA, Ponsonby AL, Pezic A, et al. APOE genotype and cardio-respiratory fitness interact to determine adiposity in 8-year-old children from the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey. PloS one. 2011;6(11):e26679. • Tikellis G, Ponsonby AL, Wells JC, Pezic A, Cochrane J, Dwyer T. Maternal and infant factors associated with neonatal adiposity: results from the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey (TIHS). International journal of obesity (2005). Apr 2012;36(4):496-504. d Cancer: • Paltiel O, Tikellis G, Linet M, et al. Birthweight and Childhood Cancer: Preliminary Findings from the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium (I4C). Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology. Jul 2015;29(4):335-45.