Participation in our research by completing online questionnaires on a secure digital platform.
Learning about the Specchio study in two minutes
All these studies have the common goal of helping to improve the health of the entire population of Geneva.
The Specchio study aims to better understand and monitor the health status of the Geneva population over time.
Bus-Santé was launched in 1992 and is a cross-sectional study conducted each year with a thousand new participants.
The aim of this longitudinal study (i.e. including monitoring over time) was to assess the prevalence and transmission routes of COVID-19 in schools and childcare facilities.
To help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the HUG Unit of Population Epidemiology (UEP) has conducted several seroprevalence studies in the Canton of Geneva since spring 2020.
The aim of the SEROCOV-KIDS study is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and development of children and adolescents in the Canton of Geneva.
Cette nouvelle fonctionnalité de la plateforme Specchio-Hub permet de visualiser de nombreuses mesures de santé récentes concernant la population genevoise.
A one-hour special broadcast on Léman Bleu brought together the principal investigators, the cantonal doctor and a number of Specchio participants.
A new publication presents the prevalence of various health indicators in the canton of Geneva.
Sleep, well-being, future prospects or chronic illnesses: these recent findings from health research in Geneva provide new insights into the longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around sixty volunteers from the Specchio cohort discussed the health issues raised in the study questionnaires.
The entire team at the Population Epidemiology Unit would like to wish you and your loved ones the very best for the New Year.
The Specchio-Hub digital platform has been set up to enable people taking part in our studies to fill in questionnaires online, and to benefit from a personal space where they can easily find their questionnaires and the results of their biological tests, if they have carried them out. The platform is also designed to keep them informed of the progress of our studies and the results obtained, as well as facilitating direct and privileged access to our scientific teams.
Specchio means "mirror" in Italian. The term "mirror" refers to the fact that volunteers, by participating individually, contribute to the collective well-being of the people of Geneva. In a way, they are a reflection of the canton's health. In return, the study benefits not only researchers and public health decision-makers, but also the participants themselves.
The data collected will provide reliable, up-to-date indicators for a better understanding of the health needs of Geneva's population as a whole. These indicators will help the canton to put in place policies that promote good health for all. They will also help to highlight the social, economic and geographical disparities that can have an impact on health within the canton's population.
Epidemiology is the scientific discipline that studies the frequency and distribution of diseases in time and space in human populations, as well as their causes. Historically, epidemiology has, for example, highlighted the carcinogenic role of tobacco consumption or occupational exposure to asbestos. Epidemiology involves measuring the incidence (number of new cases) and prevalence (total number of cases) of a specific disease in a given population at a specific time or over a given period. This scientific discipline makes it possible to understand the causes of disease by identifying specific risk factors.
Furthermore, within a population, diseases and their risk factors are distributed differently according to age group, social class or other socio-demographic or clinical characteristics. This distribution changes over time and space. It is therefore important to have up-to-date incidence and prevalence figures and indicators differentiated by population group in order to assess health promotion and prevention needs. Epidemiology is the fundamental science on which public health is based
Most of the people taking part in our studies are selected by random selection from the population register residing in the canton of Geneva. This process enables us to select a study population that is representative of the population of Geneva in terms of age and gender. Depending on the needs of our studies, other people may be invited to participate.
Our studies cover a wide range of health issues. By analysing the data collected, our research will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms and changes in health status in relation to lifestyle, diet, personal and professional environment, and environmental exposure (noise, pollution, etc).
It is perfectly possible to participate in several studies at the same time.
