NINFEA cohort

Study design

NINFEA is an internet-based multi-purpose mother-child cohortⁱ set up to investigate the effects of exposures acting during pre-natal and early post-natal life on infant, child and adult health.

Members of the cohort are all babies born to women who:

have access to the internet,
have enough knowledge of the Italian language to complete the online questionnaires,
become aware of the study,
volunteer to participate.

Women are recruited during pregnancy. To participate they register at the study website and complete a baseline online questionnaire (Q1).

Participants complete three online questionnaires:

during pregnancy (Q1),
6 months after delivery (Q2),
18 months after delivery (Q3).

The questionnaires include questions on the mother and/or the child on several exposures and some outcomes, including environmental exposures (passive smoking, traffic, residential history, maternal occupation and occupational exposures, noise, dampness), reproductive factors, medical history, anthropometrical measures, diet, supplements, health status, asthma, growth, etc.

Women are invited via email, telephone or mail to complete the Q2 and Q3 questionnaires.

Followup is conducted using both active and passive methods. Starting at age 4 of the child, specific outcomes are assessed every 2 years via ad hoc short online questionnaires. Passive followup involves linkage with available population registries, including the Hospital Inpatient Registry, the Birth Registry, the Cancer Registry, etc.

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ⁱ A cohort study is an investigation in which a group of individuals (the cohort) is identified and prospectively followed over time to detect health related events.

Main contact

Lorenzo RICHIARDI, MD
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
CPO Piemonte and University of Turin
Via Santena 7 - 10126 Torino
Italy
Phone: (39-011) 6334673
Fax: (39-011) 6334664
Email: lorenzo.richiardi@unito.it

Publications

Sonnenschein-van der Voort AM, Arends LR, de Jongste JC, Annesi-Maesano I, Arshad SH, Barros H, Basterrechea M, Bisgaard H, Chatzi L, Corpeleijn E, Correia S, Craig LC, Devereux G, Dogaru C, Dostal M, Duchen K, Eggesbø M, van der Ent CK, Fantini MP, Forastiere F, Frey U, Gehring U, Gori D, van der Gugten AC, Hanke W, Henderson AJ, Heude B, Iñiguez C, Inskip HM, Keil T, Kelleher CC, Kogevinas M, Kreiner-Møller E, Kuehni CE, Küpers LK, Lancz K, Larsen PS, Lau S, Ludvigsson J, Mommers M, Nybo Andersen AM, Palkovicova L, Pike KC, Pizzi C, Polanska K, Porta D, Richiardi L, Roberts G, Schmidt A, Sram RJ, Sunyer J, Thijs C, Torrent M, Viljoen K, Wijga AH, Vrijheid M, Jaddoe VW, Duijts L. Preterm birth, infant weight gain, and childhood asthma risk: A meta-analysis of 147,000 European children. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014; 11.
Pizzi C, Cole T.J, Richiardi L, dos-Santos-Silvia I, Corvalan C, De Stavola B. Prenatal Influences on Size, Velocity and Tempo of Infant Growth: Findings from Three Contemporary Cohorts. PLoS One. 2014; 9.
Leventakou V, Roumeliotaki T, Martinez D, Barros H, Brantsaeter AL, Casas M, Charles MA, Cordier S, Eggesbø M, van Eijsden M, Forastiere F, Gehring U, Govarts E, Halldórsson TI, Hanke W, Haugen M, Heppe DH, Heude B, Inskip HM, Jaddoe VW, Jansen M, Kelleher C, Meltzer HM, Merletti F, Moltó-Puigmartí C, Mommers M, Murcia M, Oliveira A, Olsen SF, Pele F, Polanska K, Porta D, Richiardi L, Robinson SM, Stigum H, Strøm M, Sunyer J, Thijs C, Viljoen K, Vrijkotte TG, Wijga AH, Kogevinas M, Vrijheid M, Chatzi L. Fish intake during pregnancy, fetal growth, and gestational length in 19 European birth cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013
Nannelli T, Rasero L, Montelatici V, Poggesi G, Richiardi L, Rusconi F. Il progetto Ninfea: l'esperienza in Toscana di uno studio di coorte nati con reclutamento on-line. L'infermiere. Notiziario Aggiornamenti Professionali. 2013; 1.
Richiardi L, Pivetta E, Merletti F. Recruiting study participants through facebook. Epidemiology. 2012;23: 75.
Pizzi C, De Stavola BL, Pearce N, Lazzarato F, Ghiotti P, Merletti F, Richiardi L. Selection bias and patterns of confounding in cohort studies: the case of the NINFEA web-based birth cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2011; 6.
Vrijheid M, Casas M, Bergström A, Carmichael A, Cordier S, Eggesbø M, Eller E, Fantini MP, Fernández MF, Fernández-Somoano A, Gehring U, Grazuleviciene R, Hohmann C, Karvonen AM, Keil T, Kogevinas M, Koppen G, Krämer U, Kuehni C, Magnus P, Majewska R, Andersen AM, Patelarou E, Petersen MS, Pierik FH, Polanska K, Porta D, Richiardi L, Santos AC, Slama R, Sram RJ, Thijs C, Tischer C, Toft G, Trnovec T, Vandentorren S, Vrijkotte TG, Wilhelm M, Wright J, Nieuwenhuijsen M. European Birth Cohorts for Environmental Health Research. Environ Health Perspect. 2011.
Pizzi C, De Stavola B, Merletti F, Bellocco R, Dos Santos Silva I, Pearce N, Richiardi L. Sample selection and validity of exposure-disease association estimates in cohort studies. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010; 29.
Richiardi L, Merletti F. Il progetto NINFEA, studio di coorte di nuovi nati in Italia: finalità, metodi e divulgazione. DONNA & DONNA - Il giornale delle ostetriche. 2008; 62:62.
Richiardi L, Baussano I, Vizzini L, Douwes J, Pearce N, Merletti F. NINFEA cohort. Feasibility of recruiting a birth cohort through the Internet: the experience of the NINFEA cohort. Eur J Epidemiol. 2007; 22: 831-837
Richiardi L, Baussano I, Merletti F. Newborn cohort studies: shall we use the Web? Epidemiol Prev. 2005; 29: 56.

Download

NINFEA study protocol: (version 17th April, 2008 EN)