Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)

Estelle Lowry; Ian Shuttleworth; Peter Wilgar; Catherine McLoughlin; Emma Connell

doi:10.1093/ije/dyaf054

Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)

Estelle Lowry^*
, Ian Shuttleworth
, Peter Wilgar
, Catherine McLoughlin
, Emma Connell

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Natural and Built Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

34 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Key Features
• The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)—a linked, administrative dataset comprising ∼28% of the resident population in Northern Ireland was established in 2006 to fulfill a range of academic and policy-research purposes.

• A further four census linkages have enabled a lifespan of >40 years for new research on health transitions, migration, social mobility, and other population trends.

• The most recent census linkage in 2021 comprised a total cohort of 515 930 people in the age range of 0 to 100+ years.

• The new linkage of environmental and school datasets in addition to the latest census provides the opportunity for new topics of research including self-reported chronic health conditions, national identity and language, sexual orientation, and renewable energy.

• The NILS has already been used by many researchers in academic and non-academic organizations. For new projects and enquiries, please contact [email protected].

Original language	English
Article number	dyaf054
Number of pages	6
Journal	International Journal of Epidemiology
Volume	54
Issue number	3
Early online date	23 May 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyaf054
Publication status	Published - Jun 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Keywords

administrative data
longitudinal data
Northern Ireland
policy
health
population

Access to Document

10.1093/ije/dyaf054Licence: CC BY

Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)
Copyright 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Final published version, 816 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{841840e8a3274bb3bb75fe86ebf50136,

title = "Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)",

abstract = "Key Features • The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS){\textemdash}a linked, administrative dataset comprising ∼28\% of the resident population in Northern Ireland was established in 2006 to fulfill a range of academic and policy-research purposes. • A further four census linkages have enabled a lifespan of >40 years for new research on health transitions, migration, social mobility, and other population trends. • The most recent census linkage in 2021 comprised a total cohort of 515 930 people in the age range of 0 to 100+ years. • The new linkage of environmental and school datasets in addition to the latest census provides the opportunity for new topics of research including self-reported chronic health conditions, national identity and language, sexual orientation, and renewable energy. • The NILS has already been used by many researchers in academic and non-academic organizations. For new projects and enquiries, please contact [email protected]. ",

keywords = "administrative data, longitudinal data, Northern Ireland, policy, health, population",

author = "Estelle Lowry and Ian Shuttleworth and Peter Wilgar and Catherine McLoughlin and Emma Connell",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1093/ije/dyaf054",

language = "English",

volume = "54",

journal = "International Journal of Epidemiology",

issn = "1464-3685",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)

AU - Lowry, Estelle

AU - Shuttleworth, Ian

AU - Wilgar, Peter

AU - McLoughlin, Catherine

AU - Connell, Emma

PY - 2025/6

Y1 - 2025/6

N2 - Key Features • The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)—a linked, administrative dataset comprising ∼28% of the resident population in Northern Ireland was established in 2006 to fulfill a range of academic and policy-research purposes. • A further four census linkages have enabled a lifespan of >40 years for new research on health transitions, migration, social mobility, and other population trends. • The most recent census linkage in 2021 comprised a total cohort of 515 930 people in the age range of 0 to 100+ years. • The new linkage of environmental and school datasets in addition to the latest census provides the opportunity for new topics of research including self-reported chronic health conditions, national identity and language, sexual orientation, and renewable energy. • The NILS has already been used by many researchers in academic and non-academic organizations. For new projects and enquiries, please contact [email protected].

AB - Key Features • The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)—a linked, administrative dataset comprising ∼28% of the resident population in Northern Ireland was established in 2006 to fulfill a range of academic and policy-research purposes. • A further four census linkages have enabled a lifespan of >40 years for new research on health transitions, migration, social mobility, and other population trends. • The most recent census linkage in 2021 comprised a total cohort of 515 930 people in the age range of 0 to 100+ years. • The new linkage of environmental and school datasets in addition to the latest census provides the opportunity for new topics of research including self-reported chronic health conditions, national identity and language, sexual orientation, and renewable energy. • The NILS has already been used by many researchers in academic and non-academic organizations. For new projects and enquiries, please contact [email protected].

KW - administrative data

KW - longitudinal data

KW - Northern Ireland

KW - policy

KW - health

KW - population

U2 - 10.1093/ije/dyaf054

DO - 10.1093/ije/dyaf054

M3 - Article

SN - 1464-3685

VL - 54

JO - International Journal of Epidemiology

JF - International Journal of Epidemiology

IS - 3

M1 - dyaf054

ER -

Cohort profile update: The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS)

Abstract

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this