Table 2.

Disease groups and functions in focus of the baseline examination modules of the Level 1 and Level 2 programme

Disease group/function	Specific endpoints	Instruments (examinations in bold, technical devices used in italic)
		Whole cohort (Level 1)	Subgroup (Level 2)
Cardiovascular Diseases	Myocardial infarction	Questionnaire	10-s Electrocardiography (Cardio Perfect PRO, WelchAllyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY, USA)
	Heart failure Diastolic/systolic dysfunction Valvular heart disease	Questionnaire	3-D-echocardiography (Phillips iE33—Philips Medical Systems, Hamburg, Germany) MR Imaging of the heart Submaximal ergometry [25] (Bicycle ergometer Sana Bike 350F—ergosana, Bitz, Germany; Heart rate chest strap T31—Polar Electro Oy, Finland; custom design ergometer software—Dr. Schmidt GmbH, Neunkirchen, Germany) (“1 of 3-exam”*)
	Hypertension/elevated blood pressure	Questionnaire Blood pressure and heart rate [26] (HEM 705 IT -Omron Corporation, Kyoto, Japan)	-
	Peripheral arterial disease Arterial stiffness	Questionnaire Vascular Explorer (Enverdis, Düsseldorf, Deutschland)	–
	Atrial fibrillation	Questionnaire	10-s Electrocardiography Long-term electrocardiography (SOMNOwatch™ plus, SOMNOmedics; Randersacker, Germany)
	Arteriovenous ratio of the retina	–	Retinal photography (Retinal Camera CenterVue, DRS -Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY, USA)
Diabetes	Impaired glucose tolerance Diabetes mellitus	Questionnaire HbA1c Oral glucose tolerance test (subgroup of Level 1)	Oral glucose tolerance test (subgroup of Level 2) Skin autofluorescence (AGE reader SU—DiagnOptics Technologies, Groningen, The Netherlands)
	Diabetic retinopathy	–	Retinal photography
Cancer		Questionnaire	Tumor tissue bank
Neurologic and psychiatric diseases	Cerebrovascular diseases	Questionnaire	MR Imaging of the brain
	Cognitive impairment and dementia Impaired fine motor skills and coordination	Questionnaire Neurocognitive test battery [27]	MR Imaging of the brain Number Series Test (touchscreen) [28] Purdue pegboard test
	Depression Anxiety	Questionnaire	–
Respiratory diseases	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung function, airways inflammation	Questionnaire Spirometry [29] (Easy on-PC spirometer—ndd Medizintechnik AG, Zürich, Switzerland)	Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) [29] (NIOX Vero—Circassia, Oxford, UK)
Infectious disease	Selected acute transient infections	Questionnaire	–
	Gastrointestinal infections/intestinal microbiome	Questionnaire Stool samples (subgroup)	–
	Periodontal disease, craniomandibular disease, oral microbiome	Questionnaire Tooth count [30] Saliva sample	Oral examination (e. g., dental state, pocket depth, mandibular pain) [27] (custom design software—ParoStatus.de, Berlin, Germany) (“1 of 3-exam”)*
Sensory systems	Olfactory function	–	Olfactory test (Sniffing Sticks Screening 12—Burghart Messtechnik, Holm, Germany)
	Vision	–	Visual acuity test (Testmonitor HP E241i (HP, Palo Alto, CA, USA) Retinal photography
	Hearing		Hearing test (German Digit Triplet Test) [31, 32]
Musculoskeletal system	Arthrosis, rheumatoid arthritis	–	Examination of knee and hip with angle chair (Orthopädie- und Rehatechnik Dresden, Dresden, Germany), Examination of hand [33] (“1 of 3-exam”)*
Physical fitness and activity		Questionnaire Hand grip strength [25] (Digital Dynamometer Jamar Plus+ − Sammons Preston, Rolyon, Bolingbrook, IL, USA) 7-day accelerometry [34] (GT3X/+ − ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA)	Ergometry (“1 of 3-exam”)* 24 h accelerometry (SOMNOwatch™ plus, SOMNOmedics; Randersacker, Germany)
Anthropometry [35]		Height (SECA Stadiometer 274) Weight (SECA Medical Body Composition Analyzer mBCA 515) Waist circumference (SECA Circumference measuring tape 201) Body impedance/body fat (SECA Medical Body Composition Analyzer mBCA 515) All seca GmbH & Co. KG, Hamburg, Germany	Ultrasound of the abdominal fat (Phillips iE33—Philips Medical Systems, Hamburg, Germany)

Modified and updated table based on [5] and [36]

*Each study centre selected one of three modules (1 of 3-exam system) to be carried out in all Level 2 participants, while the other two modules were only performed in a subgroup of 100 participants. The angle chair and hand examinations counted as one 1 of 3 examination module