THE GLOBAL BRAIN HEALTH SURVEY

The brain is one of our most important organs. Brain diseases account for about one-third of diseases globally. However, we still know very little about how people think about their brain and their brain health. If we knew more, we could potentially develop policy recommendations to help people take care of their brain in a way that fits their daily life.

The Global Brain Health Survey
The Global Brain Health Survey is an anonymous online survey to learn about people`s views on the brain and brain health. To our knowledge, this is the first online, global brain health survey.

Organizers
The Lifebrain consortium leads the survey in collaboration with the Norwegian Brain Council and the German Brain Council.

Lifebrain is a EU-funded project led by the University of Oslo. The consortium includes 13 partners and their brain research cohorts in 8 European countries. Lifebrain aims to explore the impact of biological, environmental, lifestyle, occupational, social, economic, and cultural factors on brain health across the lifespan. The consortium also aims to provide strategies for prevention and treatment of disorders related to brain, cognition and mental health.

Survey questions
The survey includes 16 multiple-choice questions to investigate people’s:

• Perceptions of the brain and brain health
• Interest in maintaining a healthy brain
• Willingness to know more about own brain health (e.g. through the use of brain health tests)
• Intention to act to maintain a good brain health and prevent brain disease development

The survey ends with 12 simple questions about the respondent (e.g. age, marital status, experience of brain disorders). All the questions in the survey are anonymous. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. Anyone interested and above 18 years of age can take the survey.

The questions in the survey have been developed in collaboration with the Norwegian Brain council and pilot tested during a public event at the Medical Research Council in Cambridge, March 2019.

Survey languages
The survey is available in English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Catalan, French, German, Hungarian, and will possibly be translated in additional languages (e.g. Italian, Dutch, Ukrainian). The main survey page is located on the Lifebrain web site: www.lifebrain.uio.no with links to the survey in all languages.

Partner organizations are also invited to provide links to the survey from their web site and social media platforms.

Survey duration
The survey will close in August 2020.

Taking the survey
Anyone above 18 years of age can respond to the survey using a personal computer, tablet or cell phone. When starting the survey, respondents will be asked to confirm that they are above 18 years old and consent to the use of their data for research. Participants in the Lifebrain cohorts will also be invited to take the survey.

Technical platform
The online survey questionnaire is set up using the service of the University of Oslo (UiO) called ”Nettskjema.” Nettskjema is a tool specifically designed to manage data collection online. The Nettskjema service is available on UiO's web pages and works on all platforms with all popular browsers. The “Nettskjema” is set up to collect data in a fully anonymized way and in compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation: https://www.uio.no/tjenester/it/applikasjoner/nettskjema/mer-om/personvern/meldeplikt.html

Data storage and management
The survey data will be stored on the Lifebrain secure server at the University of Oslo until the end of the Lifebrain project on 31 December 2021. The data will be deleted after that date. Only the members of the core research team in Lifebrain will have access to the raw data.

Aggregate results will be shared with partner organizations and presented at international conferences and meetings. We also aim at writing a scientific article describing the main results of the survey. The partner organizations are welcome to join this effort. The results will also be made available to the general public in lay language and using online platforms such as the Lifebrain web page and social media as well as traditional media platforms.

The official launch of the survey took place on June 4 at Litteraturhuset in Oslo, Norway:
http://litteraturhuset.no/arrangement/god-hjernehelse-er-viktig/