How is the BiSC data processed?

As you probably know, a fundamental part of BiSC involves the collection, organization and structuring of data, along with the analysis and results that can be obtained. The Data Management team is responsible for ensuring that this data is coherently structured and for detecting possible problems at any stage of the process, whether in questionnaires or tests carried out during data collection.

Typically, to determine what we are working with, those responsible for the tests or samples inform us of the data they need us to process. Following an established protocol, we begin by cleaning the data for inconsistencies and organizing the variables for better structuring. From that point, the process can vary depending on the needs of the person responsible. This can range from simple tasks to complex statistical analyzes involving different types of data and specific samples.

It is important to remember that we always […]

We return with our batteries fully charged!

Now that summer is over, and the entire team has been able to rest (And we hope all of you too!), we return to the office eager to continue with the project and gradually advance the research.

We are continually completing and finishing follow-ups and the fact is that… at the end of this month of September all BiSC children will be over 2 years old!!

As today, we have two follow-up stages in place in which we evaluate neurodevelopment and obtain very valuable information that we can return to you in the form of results reports explaining how your girls and boys are developing:

• We do a remote follow-up at 28 months through questionnaires and neurodevelopment and language tests that you complete at home (online and on paper by postal mail). Then you return it to us, so we can evaluate it.
• We also do […]
  

Let’s start analyzing exposure to noise pollution!

During weeks 12 and 32 of pregnancy, BiSC participants received a home visit from our fieldworkers. In these visits, among other tasks, the exposure to environmental pollution in the home of pregnant women was measured.

This exposure was measured with the help of different devices that recorded various parameters related to atmospheric pollution: air, and acoustic pollution, noise. And the latter is what we have started working on since last month.

In order to collect this type of information, a sound meter was installed in each house, which measured different variables related to noise on the main facade of the house. The devices take a reading every second and remain installed for an entire week. In addition, sometimes an extra sound level meter was placed on the front of the participant’s room. So we have a huge amount of data related to noise.

4 year old visit

This month of May we have started collecting data from the 4 years of BiSC children. We do this through a very complete face-to-face visit, in which we collect information about the health, habits and neuropsychological and anthropometric data of children, as well as information on the health status of BiSC mothers and fathers.

In this post we want to share with you a brief explanation of the tests that your sons and daughters will carry out for an hour while they are visiting, with a psychologist from the BiSC team.

These tests are:

• The Kiddies Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT-2): A computerized test that evaluates the attentional capacities of the child. This is a task in which the child must detect objects that appear and disappear on the screen. They are everyday objects, such as a boat, a ball, a car, scissors… and react to them or let them […]
  

This May we finish the 18-month follow-up!

From the BiSC project team, we announce that the 18-month follow-up ends this May! This means that all BiSC boys and girls have already completed their first year and a half of life, after more than 2 and a half years since the first visit at that age.

The “star” test of this visit was the Bayley scale, which the BiSC families did with our psychologist, Muriel. In this test we were able to evaluate the cognitive and motor development, as well as the language development (receptive and expressive) of BiSC children. We know that the visit with Muriel was very enjoyable and that the families left very happy. In total we were able to visit 758 participants out of the 1029 boys and girls participating in the cohort. But aside from the Bayley scale, we have also carried out questionnaires that will help us […]

How does a cohort work?

As you know, the BiSC project is an epidemiological cohort study. This means that the team follows up volunteers, during which we measure different variables, including exposure to various risk factors and their health outcomes.

In the case of BiSC, the cohort of volunteers is made up of you, the families. The risk factors we measure are numerous, but we focus primarily on urban exposures of mothers during pregnancy, and BiSC children during childhood (environmental pollution, exposure to green spaces and lifestyles). In terms of health outcomes, we collect biological samples to measure different compounds, and we also study child development and the onset of certain disorders, conditions and pathologies.

The aim of our work is to identify which factors may be related to certain outcomes in children’s health. Previous cohort studies have shown, for example, that high maternal blood levels of […]

Preparing the 4-years-visit

As we already informed you in a previous piece of news, the BiSC Project received funding from La Marató de TV3 to be able to identify genetic, psychosocial and environmental risk factors in the appearance and evolution of neurobehavioral and emotional problems in the first four years of life. We will do all this through a new follow-up in the 4 years that is about to begin!

During the visit, the children will be with one of our neuropsychologists: Muriel, whom many of you already know her since she has been at the 18-month visit; and Lorena, the new psychologist who has joined the team since November. During the visit, a series of activities and games will be carried out with the children to evaluate their neurodevelopment on cognition, language, attention, motor skills, attention, etc. (similar to the 18-month visit but more complete since the kids are […]