The purpose of the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) epidemiologic followup survey was to conduct a longitudinal study of 14,407 adults originally surveyed in 1971-75 and to investigate subsequent health and mortality outcomes. Respondents were traced and re-examined. Information was obtained from hospital records, the National Death Index, and death certificates. Several cycles have now been performed. The initial NHANES followup survey was completed in 1984. A continued followup of the elderly (75 years of age or older) in this cohort was conducted in 1985-86, while the entire cohort was again followed in 1986-87. Further followup in 1992 is planned. The purpose of this intramural project is to examine the relation of chemopreventive, nutritional, and constitutional factors to cancer in the very large, representative population which NHANES offers. It provides an opportunity to examine these factors and potentially confounding or modifying factors in a prospective fashion, and to examine the effectiveness of dietary agents which are currently of great interest for cancer prevention. The relation of baseline vitamin use, biochemical or nutritional measures, and subsequent health status will be examined. This study is being conducted by several of the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Health Statistics.
