Data Resource Profile: Understanding The Patterns And Determinants Of Health In South Asians-The South Asia Biobank

Background and aims This paper describes the data resource profile of South Asia Biobank (SAB), which was set up in South Asia from November 2018 to March 2020, to identify the risk factors and their complex interactions underlying the development of type-2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases in South Asians. Data resource basics This cross-sectional population-based study has recruited 52713 South Asian adults from 118 surveillance sites at five centres of excellence in South Asia (Bangladesh, North India, South India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Structured assessments of participants included six complementary domains: i). Registration and consent; ii). Questionnaire (information on behavioural risk factors, personal and family medical history, medications, socioeconomic status); iii). Physical measurements (height, weight, waist and hip circumference and bio-impedance for body fat composition, blood pressure, cardiac evaluation, retinal photography, respiratory evaluation); iv). Biological samples (blood and urine); v). Physical activity monitoring and vi). Dietary intake by a 24-hour recall. Aliquots of whole blood, serum, plasma, and urine were put into storage at −80°C for further analysis. Key results The prevalence of obesity is 6.6% in Bangladesh, 19.7% in India, 33.9% in Pakistan and 15.7% in Sri Lanka. The prevalence of diabetes is 11.5%, 27.7%, 25.3%, and 24.8%, and the prevalence of hypertension is 26.7%, 36.9%, 44.5%, 35.0% in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively. Collaboration and data access SAB is the first comprehensive biobank of South Asian individuals. Collected data are available to the global scientific community upon request. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement SAB is supported by the UK National Institute for Health Research (award number 16/136/68, and by Wellcome Trust (award number 212945/Z/18/Z). ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Research approval was obtained from the Imperial College London Research Ethics Committee (reference: 18IC4698) and local Institutional Review Boards in each of the participating countries. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Reports and major results of SAB will be released regularly on the SAB website. Subject to data privacy requirements, and the permissions included in the consent form, individual-level data and samples are available for use to approved investigators.