DANLIFE

The Danish Life Course Cohort (DANLIFE) is a nationwide, register-based longitudinal study comprised of multi-scale data from an unselected cohort of over 2.2 million individuals born in Denmark since 1980. Participants are followed from birth up to age 40, and comprehensive information is collected across biological, health, social, and neighbourhood scales. The unique Danish identification system enables family linkage across three generations, allowing for the investigation of risk factors that impact individuals across different life stages and generations.

Principal investigator: Professor Naja Hulvej Rod

Coordinator: Assistant professor Leonie K Elsenburg

Cohort profile:

Bengtsson J, Dich N, Rieckmann A, Hulvej Rod N (2019). "Cohort profile: the DANish LIFE course (DANLIFE) cohort, a prospective register-based cohort of all children born in Denmark since 1980". BMJ Open 9(9): e027217. Link

Key publications:

Kreshpaj B, Elsenburg LK, Andersen SH, de Vries TR, Thielen K, Rod NH (2025). "Association between childhood adversity and use of the health, social, and justice systems in Denmark (DANLIFE): a nationwide cohort study". The Lancet Public Health 10(1): e29–e35. Link

Elsenburg LK, Rieckmann A, Nguyen TL, Bengtsson J, Andersen AN, Taylor-Robinson D, Lange T, Rod NH (2022). "Mediation of the parental education gradient in early adult mortality by childhood adversity: a population-based cohort study of more than 1 million children". The Lancet Public Health 7(2): e146–e155. Link

Rod NH, Bengtsson J, Elsenburg LK, Taylor-Robinson D, Rieckmann A (2021). "Hospitalisation patterns among children exposed to childhood adversity: a population-based cohort study of half a million children". The Lancet Public Health 6(11): e826–e835. Link

Rod NH, Bengtsson J, Budtz-Jørgensen E, Clipet-Jensen C, Taylor-Robinson D, Andersen AN, Dich N, Rieckmann A (2020). "Trajectories of childhood adversity and mortality in early adulthood: a population-based cohort study". The Lancet 396(10249): 489–497. Link