Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)
Objectives:
The objectives of ARIC are to: 1) investigate
associations of factors, including those not previously measured in cohort
studies, with prevalence of atherosclerosis and incidence of CHD, clinical
stroke and other cardiovascular diseases; and 2) measure cardiovascular disease
occurrence and trends and relate these to community levels of, and changes in,
risk factors, medical care and atherosclerosis.
Background:
At the time of project initiation, the NHLBI had long
recognized the need for longitudinal studies to identify the biochemical and
physiological markers and specific environmental factors which place
individuals at high risk for the major atherosclerosis diseases. The
development of reliable ultrasound examination of peripheral arteries enhanced
the expected benefit of such studies. Community surveillance planning began for
ARIC in response to recommendations of the 1978 NHLBI Workshop on the Decline
in CHD Mortality and has been extended in its purpose to evaluate the large
geographic differences in U.S. mortality.
Subjects:
Black and white men and women, age 45-64 at entry;
sample size: 15,792.
Design:
ARIC is a large-scale, long-term prospective study
that measures associations of established and suspected coronary heart disease
risk factors with both atherosclerosis and new CHD events in men and women from
four geographically diverse communities. The project has two components:
community surveillance of morbidity and mortality; and repeated examinations of
a representative cohort of men and women in each community. The community
surveillance involves abstracting hospital records and death certificates and
investigating out-of-hospital deaths. The representative cohorts include
approximately 4,000 persons from each community.
Community surveillance data includes detailed hospital
record abstraction, ECG tracings, and event adjudication. Data from
out-of-hospital events in the community include physician, informant, and
coroner questionaires as well as death certificate data and event adjudication.
All cohort participants were examined four times at
three year intervals and contacted annually to update their medical histories.
Atherosclerosis was measured by carotid ultrasonography. Risk factors studied
include: blood lipids, lipoprotein cholesterols, and apolipoproteins; plasma
hemostatic factors; blood chemistries and hematology; sitting, supine and
standing blood pressures; anthropometry; fasting blood glucose and insulin
levels; ECG findings; cigarette and alcohol use; physical activity levels;
dietary aspects; and family history.
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Study Website |
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Study Documentation |
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Data Distribution Agreement |
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