Puerto Rico Heart Health Program (PRHHP)
Objectives:
To investigate morbidity and mortality from CHD in
Puerto Rican rural and urban men. The objectives of the study were: (1) to
identify factors related to the development of CHD, (2) compare the etiology of
disease in rural versus urban men, and (3) determine the prevalence and
incidence of CHD and other cardiovascular diseases in Puerto Rican males.
Background:
As Puerto Rico became more industrialized in the 1940s
and 1950s, mortality rates for CHD increased. Since many factors related to CHD
can be relatively homogenous within a population, two contrasting subgroups
were selected for study in Puerto Rico: a rural population of men from a
mountainous community and an urban population selected from San Juan. The NHLBI
initiated the Puerto Rico Heart Health Program in May, 1965 as a prospective
study of lifestyle, environmental and biological factors in the progression of
cardiovascular disease in Puerto Rican men.
Subjects:
A total of 9,824 (2,976 rural, 6,848 urban) men, age
45 to 64 were examined at the baseline exam.
Design:
The examination consisted of standardized
questionnaires to determine education, occupation, smoking habits, and physical
activity. Trained interviewers conducted a nutritional survey through a 24 hour
diet recall. Subjects were also examined to determine prevalent cardiovascular,
cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular abnormalities. The examination included
vital capacity, a 12-lead ECG, and laboratory tests for hematocrit, glucose,
serum cholesterol, serum glycercides and lipoprotein electrophoresis. A medical
history was also obtained. Three additional exams, approximately three years
apart, were conducted and morbidity and mortality follow-up concluded in
1980.
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Study Documentation |
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Data Distribution Agreement |
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