Scientists are urging the public to sign up to a study to help identify who is most at risk of contracting covid-19.

The UK-wide research, which aims to recruit at least 12,000 people, will look at whether particular factors such as smoking, diet or medication could increase the chances of infection.

It is hoped the data will also establish why some people become more ill than others with the disease and explain why it affects a high proportion of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The University of Edinburgh is leading the COVIDENCE study in Scotland, which opens today for anyone aged over 16 to sign up to – whether they have already had covid-19 or not.

Researchers want to recruit as wide a range of people as possible, including both those with and without underlying conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, lung disease and high blood pressure.

Adrian Martineau, Professor of Respiratory Infection and Immunity at Queen Mary University of London, which is leading the study in the UK, said it was unclear why people with certain medical conditions seem to be at increased risk of coronavirus.

“Is it because people with these conditions tend to be older? Is it something to do with the underlying condition itself?

“Could particular medications affect the risk? Or are lifestyle factors such as smoking or different dietary patterns which tend to go along with some of these conditions important?

“The answers to these questions could help us to devise new strategies to reduce infection risk, while we are waiting for an effective vaccine to come along.”

Professor Martineau said if the target of 12,000 volunteers can be reached quickly, then early results should be available “in the next few weeks”.

He added: “We also hope to understand why the severity of the disease differs so much across individuals, with some having no symptoms to otherwise healthy young people – albeit in small numbers – dying from the disease.”

Anyone who wants to take part in the study is asked to sign up and fill in a detailed questionnaire about their lifestyle, medical history and habits on social distancing and hand-washing.

Monthly updates will track any new symptoms and the study will also automatically draw on patients’ NHS records to include information on test results and hospital treatment.

Professor Aziz Sheikh, from the University of Edinburgh, Director of the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research and COVIDENCE UK lead for Scotland, said the study would enable “significant insights” into multiple risk factors associated with covid-19.

He said: “We hope a wide variety of people will volunteer to take part in the study from across Scotland and the UK, to enable the role of different backgrounds and varying medical histories in the effects of covid-19 to be fully explored.

“The study will be set up to enable future fast-tracked trials to test treatments that will, we hope, reduce the risk of serious outcomes and death.”

The research, which will run for up to five years, will also look at how the covid-19 pandemic is affecting mental wellbeing and whether this impacts on the ability to fight the virus.

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