1958 National Child Development Study

Summary of cohort

The National Child Development Study (NCDS), also known as the 1958 British birth cohort study, is an on-going, multidisciplinary study. NCDS is the second oldest nationwide birth cohort after the 1946 British birth cohort study (National Survey of Health and Development, NSHD).

The aim of NCDS is to monitor social, behavioural, educational and physical outcomes as well as to collect information regarding economic circumstances, employment and health behaviour [58].

The NCDS began as the Perinatal Mortality Study to investigate still-birth and infant mortality. Mothers of babies born in one week in March 1958 in England, Scotland and Wales (approximately 17,415) were interviewed by midwives, who completed questionnaires with reference to medical records [59].

During the childhood sweeps, immigrants that were born during the survey week in March 1958 were added to the study (n=~800) [60].

To date, the cohort has been followed up 11 times for the core survey; at ages 7, 11, 16, 23, 33, 42, 44, 46, 50, 55, and 62 years. The sweep at age 44 years was a biomedical survey and the sweep at age 62 years included a nurse visit.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCDS was included in data collection across the British birth cohorts along with NSHD, BCS70 and MCS. A web-based interview was carried out in May 2020 (Wave 1), September-October 2020 (Wave 2), and February-March 2021 (Wave 3), when NCDS members were aged 62 years.

As with all cohort studies, sample attrition has occurred in NCDS. For example, those with a lower socioeconomic position (SEP) at birth, lower mathematics score and with internalising and externalising behaviours at age 7 years were found to be under-represented in the survey at age 45 years [61].

Although immigrants were included during the childhood studies, the majority of participants of the NCDS are from a white European population [61]. Participants of the 44 year biomedical survey were shown to broadly represent those born in Britain in 1958 and resemble the white British population [61].