| Summary: | Abstract Prospective birth cohort studies are longitudinal research studies that follow a group of individuals from birth throughout their lifespan, collecting data on various factors over time. The data collection methods may include clinical examinations, questionnaires, tests, interviews, and linkage to existing data, enabling the examination of multiple risk factors and potential interactions between them. The follow-up procedures raise a question about whether intensive follow-up could affect the study population in any way. This study focuses on the association between participation in longitudinal follow-up studies and the use of psychiatric care services and cardiometabolic disorders in two prospective birth cohort studies, the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC1966) and the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). The hypothesis is that participation in the NFBC studies may increase the use of psychiatric healthcare services and reduce suicidal behaviour, and that cohort participants may live healthier lives and have fewer cardiometabolic disorders than comparison cohorts. In addition, we explored the changes in the incidences of hospital-treated psychiatric disorders in five large Finnish birth cohorts of individuals born between 1966 and 1997. The results show somewhat inconsistent effects of participation in the NFBC1966 and NFBC1986 studies. Female participants of NFBC1966 had a significantly younger onset of several cardiometabolic disorders, while female participants of NFBC1986 used less psychiatric care services and male participants of NFBC1986 had a decreased risk for several cardiometabolic disorders. In addition, the incidence of hospital-treated psychiatric disorders increased over the decades in the five birth cohorts in Finland, which is somewhat opposite to the Finnish psychiatric health policy plan. It is important to note that the cohort participants of NFBC1986 are still relatively young, and an accurate assessment of the differences in the incidence of cardiometabolic ...
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