Guidelines for linking HBM and health studies

HBM and health studies, namely health examination surveys (HES), have several common components both in the planning and the preparation phase of the study, as well as in the implementation phase, namely with regard to survey contents and to fieldwork. For planning and preparation phases, for example, common features can be found in sampling, ethical and data protection, personnel requirements, and training of the survey staff. Both study types include questionnaires which can have several common modules, health measurements and collection of biological samples such as blood and urine. Sample selection and requirements for the fieldwork site as well as recruitment of participants also share several common features.

Additional to all common features and protocols there are also specific issues/protocols from HBM and HES which differ. Therefore, the aim of these guidelines and SOPs is to provide recommendations on how HBM and HES could be combined at a national level to obtain the best synergies on fieldwork logistics, data collection and costs.

These guidelines will provide are identifying survey phases and contents of the survey protocols which are common in both HBM and health studies, i.e. easily merged, and where differences exist. When protocols for HBM and HES were similar, common parts are described as recommendation for combined HBM and health survey. When differences in the protocols were observed, recommendations aims to highlight the minimum key components required for both parts (HBM and HES).