Cohort Profile: The Nor-Work Cohort

The Nor-Work cohort was established in 2018 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. The dynamic cohort consists of individuals born between 1930 and 1992 who have ever lived and/or worked in Norway and who have a Norwegian personal identification number (N = 5 799 138). Data are available from 1960 to 2022, though exact time periods vary between data sources. Nor-Work contains data from several national administrative registers, which allows for prospective follow-up. The register-based nature means individuals cannot opt out, and thus there is no attrition. The cohort is mainly intended for occupational epidemiological research, and contains information on employment, occupation and industry, diagnoses from specialist healthcare and health registries, health-related benefits and their diagnoses (sickness absence, disability benefits), as well as demographic and socioeconomic factors. Occupation is registered from 2003; prior to this, self-reported occupation is available from the censuses in 1960, 1970, and 1980, and for a subset of the population in 1990. For the years in which occupational data are missing, imputed occupation is available.