The Murcia Twin Registry: A Population-Based Registry of Adult Multiples in Spain

Abstract

The Murcia Twin Registry (MTR) was created in 2006, under the auspices of the University of Murcia and the regional Health Authority, aiming to develop a research resource in Spain intended to stimulate current research and new investigation on the analysis of genetic factors related to health and health-related behaviors. The MTR development strategy was designed as a step-by-step process. Initially, it was focused on women's health but nowadays it includes males and opposite-sex twins. The database comprises 2,281 participants born between 1940 and 1966 in the region of Murcia, in Spain. There have been three waves of data collection and today the MTR databases include questionnaire and anthropometric data as well as biological samples. The current main areas of research interest are health and health-related behaviors, including lifestyle, health promotion, and quality of life. Future short-term development points to the completion of the biobank and continuing the collection of longitudinal data.

The evolution of extreme cooperation via shared dysphoric experiences

“…This study partially supports the hypothesis, showing that shared experiences predict levels of identity fusion better than shared genes, and levels of trust as well as shared genes. In Study 8, 260 monozygotic and 246 dizygotic twins55 were asked about their shared experiences with their twins, as well as about how fused they were with their twins. Both zygosity ( b  = 0.755 ( SE  = 0.173), 95%  CI  [0.415, 1.094]) and shared experience ( b  = 0.267 ( SE  = 0.033), 95%  CI  [0.202, 0.332]) independently predicted identity fusion.…”

Are obesity and body fat distribution associated with low back pain in women? A population-based study of 1128 Spanish twins

“…Information regarding the MTR characteristics and recruitment procedures can be found elsewhere [19]. All registry and data collection procedures involved in this study were approved by the Murcia University Ethics Committee, and informed consent was obtained from all twins.…”

Environmental and Genetic Factors Explain Differences in Intraocular Scattering

“…Twin pairs were recruited from the Murcia Twin Registry, a populationbased twin registry of adult multiples born between 1940 and 1966 in the region of Murcia, Spain. 24 After being informed of the nature of the study and possible consequences, all subjects enrolled provided an informed consent, according to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.…”

“…This questionnaire has been determined by DNA testing to correspond well with zygosity with an agreement in nearly 96% of the cases. 24 A total of twins were recruited and classified according to zygosity (32 MZ and 32 DZ twin pairs). The MZ and the DZ groups had similar age (range, 47-72 years; mean age MZ ¼ 54.9 6 6.3 years; mean age DZ ¼ 56.4 6 7.0 years; P ¼ 0.204) and sex distribution (62 female and 66 male; v 2 , P ¼ 0.289).…”