Data on adults were collected using the Bus Santé
study, a cross-sectional population-based study that
collects information on cardiovascular risk factors. Every
year, a stratified sample of 500 men and 500 women—
representative of the State of Geneva’s 100,000 males and
100,000 females non-institutionalized residents aged
35–74 (20–74 since 2011)—is recruited and studied. Four
trained collaborators interview and examine the participants.
All procedures are reviewed and standardized
across technicians regularly.
Eligible subjects are identified via a standardized procedure
using an annual residential list established by the
local government. This list includes all individuals living
in the State of Geneva. An invitation to participate is
mailed to the sampled subjects and, if they do not
respond, up to seven telephone calls are made at different
times on various days of the week. If telephone contact is
unsuccessful, two more invitation letters are sent. Subjects
that are not reached are replaced using the same selection
protocol, the ones who refuse to participate are not
replace. Finally, subjects who accept to participate receive
a self-administered standardized questionnaire, including
a semi-quantitative food frequency section. Geographic
coordinates of the postal address are used for individual
geographic information. For this analysis, data from surveys
1995 to 2014 were used, corresponding to 15,767
participants. The average participation rate for 1995–2014
was 61% (range: 53–69%).