Thurgau

What does this study bring us?

The health of our society is important to us. Medicine is often understood as the treatment of diseases. However, our motivation is much greater: to find out how certain diseases can be positively influenced or even be prevented. What factors affect our bodily functions? What is good for us? What harms us in the short or long term?

What does this study offer you?

By participating in SWICOS, you help us advance prevention research, and you will receive a free check-up that includes various examinations of different organ systems, including:

Vascular age analysis

Lung function test

Body fat measurement

Laboratory tests

IMPORTANT: This does NOT replace regular check-ups with your primary care physician. While the study includes a physician-led discussion, it does not include a medical examination.

After the evaluation, you will receive detailed information about the findings through a result sheet. If there are any abnormal findings, you will be asked to consult your doctor for further discussion.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a total of 250 participants from the communities of Weinfelden and Gachnang of all ages above 18 years. To ensure an adequate representation from all age groups, the number of available spots is limited per age category.

How can I participate?

If you are interested, please contact us via the registration tool (sign up here). We will then contact you in your preferred way and schedule an initial examination appointment. Since we are looking for people from all age groups for the study, the spots for each age category are limited. Therefore, we will briefly assess how many participants we already have in your group before providing you with a definitive answer. The examinations usually take place on Thursdays and Saturdays.

What is the procedure?

Before the first examination appointment, you will receive a questionnaire and be asked to read and fill it out in advance. Any open questions will be addressed during the examination appointment with a specialist. Afterward, medical assistants will take your blood samples, and various measurements and tests will be conducted, including weight, height, waist/hip circumference, electrocardiogram (EKG), lung function test, body fat measurement, blood pressure (sitting and standing), oxygen saturation, visual acuity, reaction speed, hearing, balance, and more, with an estimated duration of about 1 hour. Subsequently, there will be questions about your lifestyle, memory performance, and overall health perception. Overall, you can expect the examination appointment to last approximately 2 hours. Afterward, you will be discharged and sent home.

After the evaluation of the results, you will receive an evaluation sheet with the findings. If there are any abnormal results, we will contact you to inform you and recommend consulting your primary care physician for a detailed discussion.

IMPORTANT: The participating study physicians do not provide any therapies as part of the study. Therefore, it is important to consult your primary care physician if there are any abnormal results.

After 5 years, we will contact you again to encourage your participation in the follow-up examination. Ideally, the study will continue for several decades to gather as much reliable information as possible. Therefore, we would appreciate it if you could inform us of any address changes so that we can continue inviting you for the follow-up examinations.