Southall & Brent Revisited (SABRE)

Aims
The Southall And Brent Revisited Study (SABRE) is the largest tri-ethnic population-based cohort in the UK, involving nearly 5000 European, Indian Asian and African Caribbean men and women. The study originally focused on the causes of diabetes and disorders of the heart and circulation, broadening this focus to include cognitive function in the follow up stages. The participants were aged 40-69 when first studied in the two Southall and Brent studies between 1989 and 1991. Over 2008-2011 participants were followed up in a comprehensive combined morbidity and mortality study.

Institution
Institute of Cardiovascular Science, University College London

Geographic coverage - Nations
England

Geographic coverage - Regions
London - Southall; Brent

Start date
1988

Catalogue record last updated
25/09/2024

Sample type
Cohort study

Sample details
The Southall study (1988–90) was the first of the two baseline studies. A target sample of 3000 men aged 40–69 years of Indian Asian and European descent was chosen. The sample was assembled from two sources selected for the ethnic mix of the potential participants: industrial workforces and general practitioners’ lists. The general practice component was supplemented with a target sample of 600 women and was drawn from 16 general practices in the Southall and Greenford areas of west London. A small number of African Caribbean participants who appeared in this sampling frame were also included. For the industrial sample, four factories in West London were chosen. Overall, 1711 Indian Asian participants and 2004 non-Asian participants were recruited to the Southall study.

In the Brent Study (1990–91), a target sample of 300 participants in each sex and ethnic group (European and African Caribbean) aged 40–69 years was chosen. With the help of practice staff, potential participants were assigned to one of five ethnic groups: European, South Asian, African Caribbean, other and unknown. A random sample from the combined African Caribbean and unknown group, stratified by 5-year age group and sex, was selected, and an equal sample of Europeans was chosen in the same manner. 578 African Caribbean participants and 585 European participants were recruited to the study. The initial follow-up (wave 2) was in 2008 to 2011. At the subsequent follow-up (wave 3: 2014-2019), the index participants’ partners were also invited to take part. Wave 4 (2020-21) was held during the coronavirus pandemic. We ran a series of surveys to find out about the experiences of the participants in five national longitudinal cohort studies, including SABRE. The aim was to understand the health, social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis; the extent to which the pandemic was widening or narrowing inequalities; and the factors which influenced vulnerability to catching COVID and resilience to its effects.

All South Asian and African Caribbean participants are first-generation migrants to the UK.

Sample size at recruitment
4,858

Sample size at most recent sweep
3000 (2018 - SABRE V3)

Sex
All

Age at recruitment
40-69 years

Cohort year of birth
1919-50