Study of Health in Pomerania

The SHIP investigates common risk factors, subclinical disorders and manifest diseases with highly innovative non-invasive methods in the high-risk population of northeast Germany.

The SHIP study´s main aims include the investigation of health in all its aspects and complexity involving the collection and assessment of data relevant to the prevalence and incidence of common, population-relevant diseases and their risk factors.

The prevalence of arterial hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy is much higher in the West Pomeranian adult population.

The aims of the following main whole body-MRI study are: (1)To provide prevalence estimates for different MR findings in a general adult population.

Clinical MR reference parameters currently in use were derived from small, nonrepresentative samples and are thus prone to selection bias.

(3)To correlate MR findings with clinical examination results, metabolomic and genome-wide analysis in order to help elucidate the complex associations that exist between risk factors and diseases.

The management of pathological findings and communication with study participants are defined in a standardized protocol accepted by the local ethics committee.

Cases with positive findings of category II and III are referred to an Advisory Board established when the study began.