TwinsUK - The UK Adult Twin Registry#
Last modified: 28 Jul 2025
1. Summary#
TwinsUK is the UK’s largest and the world’s most clinically detailed adult twin registry, aiming to investigate the genetic and environmental basis of a range of complex diseases and conditions. The study was set up in 1992 to investigate the incidence of osteoporosis and other diseases in several hundred monozygotic (identical) twins, and since then has expanded to include over 15,000 identical and non-identical twins from across the UK, with ages between 18 and 100.
| Series Descriptor | Series-specific Information |
|---|---|
| Citation (APA) | King's College London, Department of Twin Research & Genetic Epidemiology. (2021). TwinsUK - The UK Adult Twin Registry. UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration (UK LLC). https://doi.org/10.71760/ukllc-series-00021 |
| Download Citation | Citeproc JSON BibTeX RIS |
| Owner | King's College London |
| Cohort | Ongoing recruitment means that 15,063 twins over the age of 18 are now on the registry |
| Age at Recruitment | 18 years + Currently, twins may register at 16 but may only take part in the research programme at 18. TwinsUK recently obtained approval to recruit under-18s to the research programme, so twins of any age will be able to join shortly. |
| Geographical Coverage - Nations | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| Geographical Coverage - Regions | Nationwide |
| Start Date | 1992 |
| Permitted Linkages | See here |
| Inclusion in Linkages | Consent and section 251 |
| Cohort Profile | 10.1017/thg.2019.65 |
| LPS Homepage | |
| Build a Data Request | https://explore.ukllc.ac.uk/ |
2. Linkage Rates#
3. Documentation#
We are currently building a documentation storage system which will host useful documents related to datasets and data owners. We will surface these documents on Guidebook.