Tromsø

The Tromsø Study

Tromsø (photo: Kristin Holvik)

The Tromsø Study is a population-based health study in Northern Norway, focusing on various lifestyle and health-related topics. The study design embraces six repeated health surveys, starting in 1974, followed by repeated surveys in 1979–1980, 1986–1987, 1994–1995, 2001–2002, and 2007–2008. Total birth cohorts and additional random samples of adult inhabitants of the municipality of Tromsø, Norway, have been invited to participate in the surveys.

Tromsø Osteoporosis Study (TROST) was initiated in 1993 by researchers at the Department of Community Medicine: Professor JH Magnus, Professor AJ Søgaard, Professor V. Fønnebø and Dr. Med. A. Tollan. Data collection started in conjunction with the forth Tromsø Study (1994-95), where bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by two SXA devices at the forearm sites in 7948 women and men aged 25 – 85+ years. At the same time, a fracture registry concerning all non-vertebral fractures was established at the University Hospital of Northern Norway, and the registry encompassed the total cohort that attended the 1994-95 survey: 27 158 women and men 25-97 years. With TROST established as a sub-study of the Tromsø Study, TROST researchers also had access to all other variables collected. The methodology is described in detail here.

In the 2001- 02 survey, BMD was measured again by the SXA devices in 5571 persons (57% of the originally invited cohort from 1994 – 95). In addition, BMD was measured at the total hip by DEXA (Lunar prodigy) in 5224 persons and at the total body in 1726 persons (who all had BMD measured at the forearm in 1994-95). Repeated BMD measurements were furthermore also obtained in the 2007 – 08 survey, at the forearm, total hip and total body (total numbers not yet completely clear). In addition morphometric vertebral fracture assessment was performed in 2887 women and men. Fracture registration has been followed-up through 2009.

From the beginning, two main lines of research were drawn from TROST; one regarding quality assessment and interpretation of forearm bone mineral density, the other regarding quality assessment in fracture registration and fracture risk assessment. These main lines resulted in the first 4 PhD dissertations:
• 1999: Ragnar Joakimsen. Risk factors for non-vertebral fractures in a middle- aged population
• 2000: Gro Berntsen. Interpretation of forearm bone mineral density
• 2005: Luai Awad Ahmed. Risk factors for fractures in Tromsø
• 2006: Nina Emaus. Longitudinal changes in forearm bone mineral density in women and men from 25 to 84 years

Other PhD projects fully or partly using data emerging from the original TROST:
• 2001: Lone Jørgensen. Fragile bones in patients with stroke: BMD in acute stroke patient and changes during one year of follow up
• 2007: Åshild Bjørnerem. Sex steroids, bone loss and non-vertebral fractures in women and men
• 2009: Monica Sneve. Body composition, parathyroid hormone and vitamin D – results from the Tromsø Study and from an intervention study with high doses of cholecalciferol
• 2011: Bente Morseth. Physical activity, osteoporosis and fracture risk – Long-term associations in a general population
• 2011: Guri Grimnes. Clinical and laboratory aspects of vitamin D in relation to Type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis

Several clinical trials have been performed by the associated group members on topics related to cholecalciferol, vitamin K2 and high dose vitamin D supplementation. Issues concerning hip fracture risk have also been studied on basis of the Harstad Injury Registry.
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Publications

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Updated 13.02.2012

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2012

Søgaard AJ, Meyer HE, Ahmed LA, Jørgensen L, Bjørnerem A, Joakimsen RM, Emaus N. Does recalled dieting increase the risk of non-vertebral osteoporotic fractures? The Tromsø Study. Osteoporos Int. 2012 Feb 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Waterloo S, Ahmed LA, Center JR, Eisman JA, Morseth B, Nguyen ND, Nguyen T, Sogaard AJ, Emaus N. Prevalence of vertebral fractures in women and men in the population-based Tromsø Study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2012 Jan 17;13:3

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2011

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Ahmed, Luai A.; Jørgensen, Lone; Størmer, Jan; Joakimsen, Ragnar Martin. Breastfeeding Protects Against Hip Fracture in Postmenopausal Women: The Tromsø Study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2011; Volum 26.(12) s. 2843-2850

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Ghasem-Zadeh, Ali; Bui, Minh; Wang, Xiaofang; Nguyen, Tuan V.; Hopper, John L; Zebaze, Roger; Seeman, Ego. Remodeling markers are associated with larger intracortical surface area but smaller trabecular surface area: A twin study. Bone 2011; Volum 49.(6) s. 1125-1130

Emaus, Nina; Heiberg, Ina Heidi; Ahmed, Luai A.; Balteskard, Lise; Jacobsen, Bjarne K.; Magnus, Trine; Olsen, Lena Ringstad; Ytterstad, Børge. Methodological challenges in hip fracture registration – The Harstad Injury Registry. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 2011; Volum 18.(2) s. 135-142

Emaus, Nina; Nguyen, Nguyen; Almås, Bjørg; Berntsen, Gro; Center, Jacqueline; Christensen, Monika; Gjesdal, Clara Gram; Grimsgaard, Sameline; Nguyen, Tuam; Salomonsen, Laila Johansdatter; Eisman, John; Fønnebø, Vinjar. Serum level of under-carboxylated osteocalcin and bone mineral density in early menopausal Norwegian women. European Journal of Nutrition 2011

Emaus, Nina; Olsen, Lena Ringstad; Ahmed, Luai A.; Balteskard, Lise; Jacobsen, Bjarne K.; Magnus, Trine; Ytterstad, Børge. Hip fractures in a city in Northern Norway over 15 years: time trends, seasonal variation and mortality The Harstad Injury Prevention Study. Osteoporosis International 2011; Volum 22.(10) s. 2603-2610

Grimnes, Guri; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Figenschau, Yngve; Torjesen, Peter A; Almås, Bjørg; Jorde, Rolf. Effect of one year treatment with high dose vitamin d-3 on bone mineral density and bone turnover in postmenopausal women with low bone mass-results from a randomized controlled trial. Osteoporosis International 2011; Volum 22. s. 218-219

Jørgensen, Lone; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Ahmed, Luai; Størmer, Jan; Jacobsen, Bjarne K. Smoking is a strong risk factor for non-vertebral fractures in women with diabetes. The Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2011; Volum 22.(4) s. 1247-1253

Morseth, Bente; Emaus, Nina; Jørgensen, Lone. Physical activity and bone: The importance of the various mechanical stimuli for bone mineral density. A review. Norsk Epidemiologi 2011 ;Volum 20.(2) s. 173-178

Morseth, Bente; Jørgensen, Lone; Emaus, Nina; Jacobsen, Bjarne K.; Wilsgaard, Tom. Tracking of leisure time physical activity during 28 yr in adults: The Tromsø Study. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2011; Volum 43.(7) s. 1229-1234

Omsland, Tone Kristin; Ahmed, Luai; Grønskag, Anna Brenne; Schei, Berit; Emaus, Nina; Langhammer, Arnulf; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Jørgensen, Lone; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Gjesdal, Clara Gram; Meyer, Haakon E. More forearm fractures among urban than rural women: The NOREPOS study based on the Tromsø study and the HUNT study. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2011; Volum 26.(4) s. 850-856

Wilsgaard, Tom; Jacobsen, Bjarne K.; Ahmed, Luai; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Størmer, Jan; Jørgensen, Lone. BMI change is associated with fracture incidence, but only in non-smokers. The Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2011 ;Volum 22.(4) s. 1237-1245

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2010

Ahmed, Luai A.; Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, Gro; Bjørnerem, Åshild; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Jørgensen, Lone; Schirmer, Henrik; Størmer, Jan; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Bone loss and the risk of non-vertebral fractures in women and men: the Tromsø study. Osteoporosis International 2010; Volum 21.(9) s. 1503-1511

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Ghasem-Zadeh, A; Bui, M; Wang, X; Rantzau, C; Nguyen, T; Hopper, JL; Seeman, E.
Bone’s structural design determines its own decay. Osteoporosis International 2010 ;Volum 21. s. 117-118

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Johnsen, Synnøve Lian; Nguyen, Tuan V.; Kiserud, Torvid; Seeman, Ego. The Shifting Trajectory of Growth in Femur Length During Gestation. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2010; Volum 25.(5) s. 1029-1033

Emaus, Nina; Gjesdal, Clara G; Almås, Bjørg; Christensen, Monica; Grimsgaard, Sameline; Berntsen, Gro; Salomonsen, Laila Johansdatter; Fønnebø, Vinjar. Vitamin K2 supplementation does not infuence bone loss in early menopausal women: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Osteoporosis International 2010; Volum 21.(10) s. 1731-1740

Grimnes, Guri; Emaus, Nina; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Figenschau, Yngve; Jenssen, Trond Geir; Njølstad, Inger; Schirmer, Henrik; Jorde, Rolf. Baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in the Tromsø Study 1994-95 and risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus during 11 years of follow-up. Diabetic Medicine 2010; Volum 27(10) s. 1107-1115

Jørgensen, Lone; Skjelbakken, Tove; Løchen, Maja-Lisa; Ahmed, Luai; Bjørnerem, Åshild; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Jacobsen, Bjarne K. Anemia and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2010; Volum 21.(10) s. 1761-1768

Omsland, Tone Kristin; Ahmed, Luai A.; Grønskag, Anna Brenne; Schei, Berit; Emaus, Nina; Langhammer, Arnulf; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Jørgensen, Lone; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Gjesdal, Clara Gram; Meyer, Haakon E. Urban-rural differences in forearm fractures in postmenopausal women – the Norepos Study. Osteoporosis International 2010 ;Volum 21. s. 258-259

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2009

Ahmed, Luai; Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, GK; Bjørnerem, Åshild; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Jørgensen, Lone; Schirmer, Henrik; Størmer, J; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Bone Loss and the Risk of Non-vertebral Fractures in Women and Men: The Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2009

Ahmed, Luai; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Berntsen, Gro k; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Schirmer, Henrik. Diabetes mellitus and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2009 ;Volum 20. s. 841-845

Ahmed, Luai; Schirmer, Henrik; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Features of the metabolic syndrome and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: The Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2009; Volum 20. s. 839-842

Ahmed, Luai; Schirmer, Henrik; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Self-reported diseases and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø study. Osteoporosis International 2009 ;Volum 20. s. 837-842

Ahmed, Luai; Schirmer, Henrik; Bjørnerem, Åshild; Emaus, Nina; Jørgensen, Lone; Størmer, Jan; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. The gender- and age-specific 10-year and lifetime absolute fracture risk in Tromsø, Norway. European Journal of Epidemiology 2009; Volum 24.(8) s. 441-448

Emaus N, Omsland TK, Ahmed LA, Grimnes G, Sneve M, Berntsen GKR. Bone mineral density at the hip in Norwegian women and men. Prevalence of osteoporosis depends on chosen references. The Tromsø Study. European Journal of Epidemiology (2009) 24: 321 – 328

Jørgensen, Lone; Joakimsen, Oddmund; Mathiesen, Ellisiv B.; Ahmed, Luai; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Njølstad, Inger; Schirmer, Henrik; Jacobsen, Bjarne K. Carotid Plaque Echogenicity and Risk of Nonvertebral Fractures in Women: A Longitudinal Population-Based Study (vol 79, pg 207, 2006). Calcified Tissue International 2009; Volum 85. s. 84-84

Wilsgaard, Tom; Emaus, Nina; Ahmed, Luai; Grimnes, Guri; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Omsland, Kristin; Omsland, Tone Kristin; Berntsen, Gro. Lifestyle Impact on Lifetime Bone Loss in Women and Men. American Journal of Epidemiology 2009; Volum 169.(7) s. 877-886

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2008

Grimnes, Guri; Emaus, Nina; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Figenschau, Yngve; Jorde, Rolf. The Relationship between Serum TSH and Bone Mineral Density in Men and Postmenopausal Women: The Tromsø Study. Thyroid 2008; Volum 18.(11) s. 1147-1155

Sneve, Monica; Emaus, Nina; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Jorde, Rolf. The association between serum parathyroid hormone and bone mineral density, and the impact of smoking: The Tromsø Study. European Journal of Endocrinology 2008 ;Volum 158.(3) s. 401-409

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2007

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Ahmed, Luai; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Jørgensen, Lone; Øian, Pål; Seeman, Ego; Straume, Bjørn. A prospective study of sex steroids, sex hormone-binding globulin, and non-vertebral fractures in women and men: the Tromsø Study. European Journal of Endocrinology 2007; Volum 157. s. 119-125

Bjørnerem, Åshild; Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, Gro; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Wilsgaard, Tom; Øian, Pål; Seeman, Ego; Straume, Bjørn. Circulating sex steroids, sex Hormone-binding globulin, and longitudinal changes in forearm bone mineral density in postmenopausal women and men: The Tromsø study. Calcified Tissue International 2007 ;Volum 81. s. 65-72

Jørgensen, Lone; Jenssen, Trond Geir; Ahmed, Luai; Bjørnerem, Åshild; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Jacobsen, Bjarne K. Albuminuria and risk of nonvertebral fractures. Archives of Internal Medicine 2007 ;Volum 167. s. 1379-1385

Thrane, Gyrd; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Thornquist, Eline. The association between timed up and go test and history of falls: The Tromsø Study. BMC Geriatrics 2007

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2006

Ahmed, Luai A.; Schirmer, Henrik; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Berntsen, Gro. Validation of the Cummings’ risk score; how well does it identify women with high risk of hip fracture: The Tromsø Study. European Journal of Epidemiology 2006; Volum 21.(11) s. 815-822

Ahmed, Luai; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne; Schirmer, Henrik.
Diabetes mellitus and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø study. Osteoporosis International 2006; Volum 17.(4) s. 495-500

Ahmed, Luai; Schirmer, Henrik; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Features of the metabolic syndrome and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: The Tromsø study. Osteoporosis International 2006; Volum 17.(3) s. 426-432

Ahmed, Luai; Schirmer, Henrik; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M. Self-reported diseases and the risk of non-vertebral fractures: the Tromsø study. Osteoporosis International 2006; Volum 17.(1) s. 46-53

Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, Gro; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Fønnebø, Vinjar. Longitudinal changes in forearm bone mineral density in women and men aged 45-84 years: The Tromsø study, a population-based study. American Journal of Epidemiology 2006; Volum 163. s. 441-449

Jørgensen, Lone; Joakimsen, Oddmund; Mathiesen, Ellisiv B.; Ahmed, Luai; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Njølstad, Inger; Schirmer, Henrik; Jacobsen, Bjarne K. Carotid plaque echogenicity and risk of nonvertebral fractures in women: A longitudinal population-based study. Calcified Tissue International 2006; Volum 79. s. 207-213

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2005

Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, Gro; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne. Bone mineral density measures in longitudinal studies: The choice of phantom is crucial for quality assesment. The Tromsø study, a population-based study. Osteoporosis International 2005; Volum 16. s. 1597-1603

Emaus, Nina; Berntsen, Gro; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne. Longitudinal changes in forearm bone mineral density in women and men aged 25-44 years. American Journal of Epidemiology 2005; Volum 162. s. 633-43

Søgaard, AJ; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Tverdal, A; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne; Magnus, JH; Berntsen, Gro. Long-term mental distress, bone mineral density and non-vertebral fractures. The Tromsø Study. Osteoporosis International 2005; Volum 16(8) s. 887-897

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2004

Ahmed, Luai; Joakimsen, Ragnar M; Berntsen, Gro; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne. Diabetes mellitus and the risk of non-vertebral fractures.. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 2004; Volum 18. s. S245-S245

Jørgensen, Lone; Singh, Kulbir; Berntsen, Gro; Jacobsen, Bjarne Koster. A population-based study of the prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysms in relation to bone mineral density – The Tromsø Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 2004; Volum 159. s. 945-949

Meyer, HE; Berntsen, Gro; Sogaard, AJ; Søgaard, AJ; Langhammer, A; Schei, B; Fønnebø, Vinjar Magne; Forsmo, S; Tell, GS. Higher bone mineral density in rural compared with urban dwellers. American Journal of Epidemiology 2004; Volum 160. s. 1039-1046

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2001

Joakimsen, R.M.; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Tollan, Arne; Størmer, J.; Magnus, J.H. The Tromsø Study: Registration of fractures, how good are self-reports, a computerized radiographic register and a discharge register? Osteoporosis International 2001;Volum 12. s. 1001-1005

Berntsen, Gro K.R.; Fønnebø, Vinjar; Tollan, Arne; Søgaard, Anne Johanne; Magnus, J.H..
Forearm bone mineral density by age in 7620 men and women. The Tromsø Study, a population-based study. American Journal of Epidemiology 2001; Volum 153. s. 465-73