Paracelsus 10,000: A Prospective Cohort Study Based On The Population of Salzburg, Austria. Rationale, Objectives And Study Design

Abstract Paracelsus 10,000 is a prospective cohort study with the objective to investigate the health status of the population in and around the city of Salzburg. The focus lies on common non-communicable diseases, mainly cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and their risk factors in a population-based cohort aged between 40 and 70 years. Between the years 2013 and 2020, 10,062 randomly selected participants (w: 5,187, m: 4,875) were investigated, of whom 2,620 underwent an intensified examination. The program consists not only of medical examinations, but was extended to inventories on mental disorders, lifestyle including nutrition and physical activity. From all study participants biological samples were stored in a biobank at -80°C enabling future investigations of biomarkers and utilization of the whole spectrum of multi-omics. The first follow-up phase of the study has started in late 2020 and will allow us to investigate the development of common non-communicable diseases occurring over time in the cohort of the Paracelsus 10,000 study. This gives the study a unique position within the framework of Austrian epidemiological research with the potential to gain new insight into the role of interaction between genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors for disease development in the Salzburg population. Obtaining high-quality epidemiological data is also of particular relevance for the development of evidence-based prevention strategies. This report describes rationale, objectives and design of the study and provides insight into the main characteristics of the study cohort.