Norway National Registries Study
Study profileDescription
The Norwegian health registries are designed for a variety of critical public health and administrative functions. The study team leveraged Norwegian linked health registries to monitor the health impacts of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) in pregnant people and children. Using records from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, the study team included all pregnant people and their offspring in Norway from January 1, 2020, onward. Data linkage is facilitated through use of a unique personal identifier, assigned at birth or immigration, providing comprehensive follow-up on both mothers and infants via multiple national health registries that cover vaccination records, notifications of infectious diseases, drug dispensations and healthcare encounters.
Countries involved: Norway
Sample size: 1.1 million children aged <18 years and ~55,000 deliveries per year.
Related publications:
- Orangzeb S, Desalegn A, Trinh NTH, Zhao J, Nordeng H, Lupattelli A. COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children and adolescents in Norway: A comprehensive registry-based cohort study of over 800,000 individuals. Vaccine. 2024;42(15):3420-3428. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.04.039
- Elyass J, Desalegn A, Trinh NTH, Orangzeb S, Zidan M, Nordeng H, Lupattelli A. Individual and familial factors associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccine uptake in pregnancy: A large-scale registry-based linkage study. Vaccine. 2024;42(21):126171. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2024.126171
- Barbieri E, Trinh NTH, Di Chiara C, Corrao G, Boracchini R, Rosa E, Liberati C, Donà D, Lupattelli A, Giaquinto C, Cantarutti A. Impact of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection on COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness in Children and Adolescents in Norway and Italy. Vaccines (Basel). 2025;13(7):698. Published 2025 Jun 27. doi:10.3390/vaccines13070698
- Zidan M, Trinh NTH, Desalegn A, Smith LH, van Gelder MMHJ, Nordeng H, Lupattelli A. BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in pregnancy: Emulating trial NCT04754594 using observational data from Norwegian health registries. Vaccine. 2025 Dec 5;68:127908. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.127908.
Metadata collected
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| Data collected? | ||||||
| Demographics | ||||||
| Date of birth (full or MM/YY) | ✅ | |||||
| Age at contact | ✅ | |||||
| Sex / gender | ✅ | |||||
| Country of birth | ✅ | |||||
| Ethnic group / race / population sector | ✅ | |||||
| Income level | ✅ | |||||
| Employment / occupation | ✅ | |||||
| Other socio-economic status proxy | ||||||
| Education level | ✅ | |||||
| Civil status (‘marital’) | ✅ | |||||
| Locality (of health care provision) | ✅ | |||||
| Locality (of residence) | ✅ | |||||
| Household size | ||||||
| Household composition | ✅ * | |||||
| *linkage of siblings, mothers-fathers-children | ||||||
| Hospitalisation | ||||||
| Admission / discharge dates or duration | ✅ | |||||
| Episode dates | ✅ | |||||
| Episode type (e.g., general; birth) | ✅ | |||||
| Diagnosis (e.g., codes) | ✅ | |||||
| Procedures (e.g., codes) | ✅ | |||||
| Procedures dates | ✅ | |||||
| Dispensed medications | ✅ | |||||
| ICU admission | ||||||
| Admission type (planned/emergency) | ||||||
| Hospitalisation for COVID-19 | ✅ | |||||
| Primary care, outpatient care | ||||||
| Date of visit / contact | ✅ | |||||
| Diagnosis codes | ✅ | |||||
| Dispensed medications codes | ✅ | |||||
| Dispensed medications date | ✅ | |||||
| Primary care utilisation summary | ✅ * | |||||
| *derived | ||||||
| Health status and exposures | ||||||
| Height | ||||||
| Weight | ||||||
| Date of anthropometrics | ||||||
| Chronic / co-morbid conditions~ | ✅ | |||||
| Medications for chronic conditions | ✅ | |||||
| Smoker in household | ||||||
| Current smoker | ||||||
| ~ can include obesity | ||||||
| Vaccines | ||||||
| COVID-19 vaccine (timing, doses) | ✅ | |||||
| Type of COVID-19 vaccine | ✅ | |||||
| Other vaccinations / vaccination history | ✅ | |||||
| COVID-19 symptoms & contacts | ||||||
| COVID-19 episodes | ✅ | |||||
| COVID-19 symptoms (type, severity, duration) | ||||||
| Influenza-like symptoms (type, timing, duration) | ||||||
| COVID-19 health-seeking behaviour | ||||||
| COVID-19 contacts in household | ✅ | |||||
| Medications during C-19 episode | ✅ | |||||
| Pregnancy & birth | ||||||
| Date of delivery | ✅ | |||||
| Length of gestation | ✅ | |||||
| Birthweight | ✅ | |||||
| Maternal age at delivery | ✅ | |||||
| Pregnancy complications | ✅ | |||||
| Smoking pre-pregnancy | ✅ | |||||
| Vaccines in pregnancy (non-COVID-19) | ✅ | |||||
| Parity / nulliparity | ✅ | |||||
| Pre-pregnancy body mass index | ✅ | |||||
| Pregnancy outcome (e.g. miscarriage) | ✅ | |||||
| Mode of delivery | ✅ | |||||
| Sex of baby | ✅ | |||||
| Congenital anomalies | ✅ | |||||
| Other newborn complications | ✅ | |||||
| Placental weight | ✅ | |||||
| Antenatal care usage | ✅ ~ | |||||
| Currently pregnant | ✅ ~ | |||||
| ~derived/estimated | ||||||
| Death | ||||||
| Date of / age at death | ✅ | |||||
| Cause of death | ✅ | |||||
| COVID-19 laboratory tests | ||||||
| Sample type tested | ||||||
| Sample / specimen collection date | ||||||
| SARS-CoV-2 PCR test date | ✅ | |||||
| SARS-CoV-2 PCR pos / neg result | ✅ | |||||
| SARS-CoV-2 PCR Ct Value | ||||||
| SARS-CoV-2 LFT test date | ||||||
| SARS-CoV-2 LFT test result | ||||||
| Serology test date | ||||||
| Serology test results | ✅ | |||||
| SARS- COV-2 genomic test results | ||||||
| SARS- COV-2 variant/ lineage | ✅ ~~ | |||||
| Other lab tests | ||||||
| ~~results available for subset | ||||||
| COVID-19 sample collection / storage | ||||||
| Sample type collected | ||||||
| Sample collection date | ||||||
| Sample collection time | ||||||
| Sample processing | ||||||
| Sample quality | ||||||
| Consent to use research sample | ||||||
| Consent to share research sample | ||||||