Nurses’ Health Study: Nurses Helping Science and Themselves

Extract

As the Nurses’ Health Study nears its 25-year anniversary, a glance back at the contributions made to women’s health by more than 100,000 nurses reveals an impressive legacy. Early findings focused on the effects of oral contraceptives and smoking on major illnesses in women. As time progressed, the study has broadened to look at the effects of dietary and other lifestyle factors on women’s health. Now, nearly 400 publications later, the Nurses’ Health Study is still active with more than 50 publications in 1999 alone.

It all began with the birth control pill. Frank E. Speizer, M.D., of Harvard Medical School’s Channing Laboratory in Boston, wanted to determine the long-term health effects, if any, of oral contraceptives. So, in 1976, as head of the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) research group, Speizer sent a letter and two-page questionnaire to 121,000 married, female registered nurses 30 to 55 years old. The letter accompanying the questionnaire stated “we believe that registered nurses—because of their knowledge, training, and interest in health issues—will provide a higher response rate as well as more complete and accurate information than other groups.”