← Go back

Date of filling in this questionnaire or last update: 21/12/2025
1. IDENTIFICATION & BASIC DESCRIPTION
Cohort name
  Nor-Work
Country
 

  • Norway
Please provide any other information on the cohort location/s if needed
  All born 1930-1992 who have ever worked and/or resided in Norway, registry-based (N = 5 799 138)
Name
  Karl-Christian Nordby
Institution
  STAMI (National Institute of Occupational Health), Oslo, Norway
Email
  karl.c.nordby@stami.no
Do you want to add another Principal Investigator of the Cohort
 

  • Add another Principal Investigator of the cohort
Name
  Rachel Hasting
Institution
  STAMI
Email
  rachel.hasting@stami.no
Name of committee
  Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC) South East, Norway
Contact Principal Investigator (name)
  Karl-Christian Nordby
Data access policy (briefly describe)
  Data transfer is not possible. Data access is possible to project participants and collaborating partners and must be approved by the Regional Ethics Committee and register owners.
Is this cohort part of a consortium? (name consortium)
  The European Occupational Exposome and Health Cohort Consortium
Participation in pooled analyses
 

  • The cohort is potentially interested in participating in pooled analyses of (European) occupational cohort studies (note pooled analyses also includes remote decentralized analyses that would not require any transfer of primary data as well as meta-analyses).
Main aim of cohort, please briefly describe the main objectives of the cohort
  To identify differences in health, labour force participation, and related outcomes, and to study how these outcomes are associated with other factors, including occupation and occupational exposures.
Study design (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Prospective cohort
Source population (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • General population: National
Comparators (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Internal study population
Inclusion criteria
  Total population born 1930-1992, ever working and/or residing in Norway
Exclusion criteria
  Died or emigrated before 2000
Enrollment
  Completed
Age range at entry (main cohort)
 

Minimum Maximum Mean
18 (in 2010, i.e. born 1992) 70 (in 2000, i.e. born 1930)

Men at enrollment
  3 292 017
Women at enrollment
  2 507 121
Men at last follow-up
  3 292 017
Women at last follow-up
  2 507 121
Participation rate at enrollment (if known)
  100
Comments
  No loss to follow-up as cohort is based on national administrative registers. However, educational and work information for immigrants prior to their arrival in Norway (or for any periods spent outside of Norway) is missing.
2. OUTCOME FOLLOW-UP
Type of data for outcome follow-up (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Death certificate
  • Disease incidence records
  • Hospital / physician diagnoses
  • Use of registers (specify)
Death certificate (specify)
 

  • Norwegian Cause of Death Registry
Disease incidence records (specify)
 

  • Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR)
  • Cancer diagnoses from Cancer Registry of Norway
Hospital / Physician diagnoses (specify)
 

  • Norwegian Patient Registry with selected diagnoses (ICD-10) from specialist healthcare in hospitals as well as outpatient treatment.
  • Physician diagnoses from sickness certificates (ICPC-2), and related to disability pension and some other social benefits.
Specify: Use of registers
 

  • Registers from Statistics Norway: Event information on sickness absence, disability pension, other benefits, unemployment and employment, (early) retirement, etc.
  • Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration: Social benefits diagnoses (Sickness absence, Disability pension, and others)
  • Norwegian Cause of Death Registry
  • Norwegian Patient Registry
  • Cancer Registry of Norway
First follow-up period (provide year)
  1960
Last follow-up period (provide year)
  2022
Number of follow-ups after baseline (provide number)
  Some data are annual, other event data; last update varies between registers
Participation at last follow-up (if known)
  100
Comments
  Registry-based cohort with anticipated complete follow-up of alive people residing in Norway (excluding those who are dead or emigrated).
3. OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES
Source of exposure data collected (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Job-employment records
  • Registry-based
Occupational history/time frame
  Lifetime
Occupational coding performed
  Yes
Occupation (specify coding system used)
 

  • ISCO-88 (Norwegian version), annually from 2003 (also available for 1960, 1970, 1980 and a subset of the population in 1990)
Industry (specify coding system used)
 

  • NACE (Nomenclature des Activités Économiques dans la Communauté Européenne)(event data)
Methods for exposure assessment (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Job Exposure Matrix
 

  • Other
Specify: Job Exposure Matrix / Other
  NORJEM (Mechanical and psychosocial exposures)
Website
  https://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3774
Main categories
 

  • Ergonomics, physical workload, and injury related
  • Psychosocial domains
Ergonomics, physical workload, and injury related
 

  • Awkward work postures (e.g. kneeling/squatting, elevated arms, neck flection, back bent forward without support)
  • Physical work load (e.g. heavy lifting of people or objects, pushing/pulling)
  • Standing work
Psychosocial domains | Job task characteristics/organization of work
 

  • Job control, autonomy
  • Psychological job demands
  • Social support at work from supervisors
  • Other (specify)
Psychosocial domains | Job task characteristics/organization of work | Specify: Other
  monotonous work
Comments
  NORJEM contains 8 different mechanical work exposures:
(i) heavy lifting,
(ii) neck flexion,
(iii) hands above shoulder height,
(iv) squatting/kneeling,
(v) forward bending,
(vi) awkward lifting,
(vii) heavy physical work and
(viii) standing/walking.

5 psychosocial exposure dimensions:
(i) psychological demands, consisting of three dimensions: quantitative demands, role conflict and emotional demands;
(ii) decision latitude, consisting of two dimensions: decision authority and skill discretion;
(iii) job strain constructed by combining psychological demands and decision latitude;
(iv) monotonous work measured by a single item; and
(v) supportive leadership measured with three items.

4. OUTCOMES EVALUATED
Baseline - type of outcome data collected (select more than one if applicable)
 

  • Death certificates
  • Medical records
  • Registry-based
Registry-based
 

  • Cancer incidence
  • Disease specific clinical database
  • Employment status
  • Hospital discharge
  • Mortality register
  • Migration
Follow-up - type of outcome data collected (select more than one if applicable)
 

  • Death certificates
  • Medical records
  • Registry-based
Registry-based
 

  • Cancer incidence
  • Disease specific clinical database
  • Employment status
  • Hospital discharge
  • Mortality register
  • Migration
Outcome type (please select as many as appropriate)
 

  • Mortality
  • Morbidity
  • Disability
Diagnostic groups based on ICD10
 

  • C + D Neoplasms
  • E Endocrinological disease
  • E Malnutrition and obesity
  • E Metabolism disease
  • F Mental disorders
  • G Disease in the nervous system
  • H Disorders of the ear
  • I Heart disease
  • I Cerebrovascular diseases
  • J Respiratory disease
  • L Skin, nail and hair disorders
  • M Arthritis, arthrosis, systemic connective disorders, spine disorders
  • M Disorders of muscles, bones, synovialis, bursa, cartilage
  • O+P Pregnancy and labour
  • S Injuries
  • Other (specify)
Other (specify)
  R (Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified) & Z (Factors influencing health status and contact with health services)
E Endocrinological disease
 

  • Diabetes mellitus
E Malnutrition and obesity
 

  • Obesity
F Mental disorders
 

  • Dementia
  • Personality and behavioural disorders
  • Schizophrenia
  • Mood [affective] disorders
  • Depression
  • Eating disorders
  • Mental retardation
  • Disorders of psychological development including autism and Aspergers syndrome
  • Other mental disorder, not otherwise specified
  • Other, please state
F Mental disorders | Other (specify)
  (all ICD-10 codes in chapter F)
G Disease in the nervous system
 

  • Systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system including
  • Spinal muscular atrophy and related syndromes
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Migraine
  • Sleep disorders
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Lesion of ulnar nerve
  • Lesion of radial nerve
  • Other mononeuropathies
  • Polyneuropathies and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system
  • Toxic encephalopathy
H Disorders of the ear
 

  • Diseases of inner ear
I Heart disease
 

  • Hypertensive diseases
  • Angina pectoris
  • Acute myocardial infarction
  • Chronic ischaemic heart disease
  • Pulmonary embolism
  • Other pulmonary heart diseases
  • Other, please state
I Heart disease | Other (specify)
  Other ICD-10 diagnoses: I73.0 Raynaud's syndrome; I83 Varicose veins of lower extremities
I Cerebrovascular diseases
 

  • Cerebral infarction
  • Stroke, not specified as haemorrhage or infarction
  • Arterial embolism and thrombosis
J Respiratory disease
 

  • Acute upper respiratory infections of multiple and unspecified sites
  • Acute bronchitis
  • Acute bronchiolitis
  • Vasomotor and allergic rhinitis
  • Chronic rhinitis, nasopharyngitis and pharyngitis
  • Chronic sinusitis
  • Nasal polyp
  • Chronic Bronchitis
  • Emphysema
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Asthma
  • Byssinosis
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Pneumoconiosis
  • Hypersensitivity pneumonitis due to organic dust
  • Other interstitial lung disease
  • Adult respiratory distress syndrome
  • Other, please state
J Respiratory disease | Other (specify)
  J92 Pleural plaque (in ICD-10)
L Skin, nail and hair disorders
 

  • Allergic contact dermatitis
  • Irritant contact dermatitis
  • Psoriasis/Parapsoriasis
  • Urticaria
  • Other, please state
L Skin, nail and hair disorders | Other (specify)
  L25 Unspecified contact dermatitis (ICD-10)
M Arthritis, arthrosis, systemic connective disorders, spine disorders
 

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Juvenile arthritis
  • Gout
  • Other arthritis
  • Polyarthrosis
  • Coxarthrosis
  • Gonarthrosis [arthrosis of knee]
  • Arthrosis of first carpometacarpal joint
  • Other arthrosis
  • Spine disk disorders
  • Lumbago with sciatica
  • Low back pain
M Disorders of muscles, bones, synovialis, bursa, cartilage
 

  • Chronic crepitant synovitis of hand and wrist
  • Bursitis of hand
  • Olecranon bursitis
  • Prepatellar bursitis
  • Other bursitis
  • Rotator cuff syndrome
  • Bicipital tendinitis
  • Calcific tendinitis of shoulder
  • Impingement syndrome of shoulder
  • Medial epicondylitis
  • Lateral epicondylitis
  • Other Synovitis and tenosynovitis
O+P Pregnancy and labour
 

  • Oedema, proteinuria and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium
  • Eclampsia in pregnancy, labour or puerperium
  • Excessive vomiting in pregnancy
  • Venous complications in pregnancy
  • Infections of genito-urinary tract in pregnancy
  • Diabetes mellitus in pregnancy
  • Malnutrition in pregnancy
  • Other specified pregnancy-related conditions
  • Complications of labour and delivery
  • Preterm delivery
  • Extremely low birth weight
  • Other low birth weight
  • Exceptionally large baby
  • Birth trauma
  • Congenital viral diseases
  • Foetal death of unspecified cause
  • Other, please state
O+P Pregnancy and labour | Other (specify)
  All pregnancy-related diagnoses that lead to sickness absence (ICPC-2 diagnoses: W)
S Injuries
 

  • Injuries to the head
  • Injuries to the thorax
  • Injuries to the abdomen, lower back, lumbar spine and pelvis
  • Injuries to the shoulder, arm and fingers
  • Injuries to the hip and thigh
  • Injuries to the knee and lower leg, ankle and foot
  • Other, please state
S Injuries | Other (specify)
  All ICD-10 diagnoses S00-T98
Other health related outcomes
 

  • Sickness absence
  • Work participation
  • Other (specify)
Specify: Other
  Disability pension
Comments
  Additional ICD--10 diagnoses:
All codes V+Y External causes of morbidity (V00 - Y99)

Z Factors influencing health status and contact with health services:
- Z56 Problems related to employment and unemployment
- Z57 Occupational exposure to risk factors

We also have other diagnoses:
- Mortality diagnoses from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry
- All diagnoses related to Sickness absence (ICPC-2 codes), Disability pension and other social benefits

5. BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES & ANALYSIS
Comments
  No biological samples
6. Other Information
 

  • Demographics
  • Education
  • Medical history
  • Residential history
  • Socioeconomic status
Possibility for linkage to data registries/data enrichment via data linkage
 

  • Cancer incidence
  • Disease specific clinical database
  • Employment status
  • Hospital discharge
  • Medication usage
  • Migration
  • Mortality register