Table 1.

Features of UK Biobank and comparator studies.

Study name	UK Biobank	National Child Development Study (NCDS)	MUSICIAN
Sample	Population samples around 22 Great Britain-wide recruiting centres	Persons born during one week of March 1958 in Great Britain	Population samples from two regions of Great Britain
Calendar period study commenced	2006	2002	2008
Age range	40–69 years	44 yearsa	40–69 yearsb
Focus	General health	General health	Pain
Participation rate	5.5%	78.3% of persons invited (50.4% of original birth cohort)	35.9%
N	503,325	9377	8847
Pain questions	In the last month, have you experienced any of the following that interfered with your usual activities?	Thinking back over the past month, have you had any aches or pains that have lasted for one day or longer?	Thinking back over the past month, have you had any aches or pains that have lasted for one day or longer?
Pain location data	Checklist	Body manikin shading	Body manikin shading
Mode of response	Touch-screen questionnaire	Paper questionnaire	Paper questionnaire

^aData used from follow-up which commenced in 2002 when 95.5% were aged 44 years, 4.1% were aged 45 years and 0.4% were aged 46 years.

^bThe study included persons aged 25 years and over but only those aged 40–69 years are included in the current analysis.