Health Professionals Follow-up Study

February 27, 2018 updated by: Eric B. Rimm, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
To test the hypothesis that increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and cancer is related to diets high in saturated fat, animal protein, and hydrogenated vegetable oil, and low in polyunsaturated fat, fiber, vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, selenium, and chromium.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

The diet-heart hypothesis, that high dietary saturated fat and cholesterol intake increase the risk and high polyunsaturated fat reduces the risk of coronary heart disease in man is supported by ecologic studies, by experiments in rodents and non-human primates, by voluminous literature relating dietary factors to serum lipids, by several secondary prevention trials, and by the Lipid Research Clinics Trial demonstrating a reduction in coronary heart disease among participants assigned to cholestyramine.

Despite the substantial scientific interest and the obvious public health implications of the diet and heart disease issue, relatively few observational cohort or case-control investigations had been published prior to 1985. Although these observational studies were not entirely consistent, taken collectively, they tended to provide important general support for the diet-heart hypothesis. However, due to study design, limited numbers of endpoints, or methods of analysis, many central questions remained unanswered. The most important issue was the quantitative relationship between specific dietary factors and risk of coronary heart disease. Moreover, the interplay of dietary and genetic factors is poorly understood.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

In this prospective cohort study, participants completed a mailed general medical and health questionnaire at baseline and an intensively validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ). At one year, tissue specimens were collected and catalogued for future nested case-control analyses of coronary heart disease risk in relation to levels of calcium, selenium, and chromium. Follow-up questionnaires to update exposure information and ascertain non-fatal endpoints were mailed at two-year intervals. All reported cases of non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and cancer were documented with hospital records and/or pathology reports. Fatal events were ascertained with the National Death Index and documented. To standardize SFFQ nutrient scores against measurements of absolute intake, two one-week diet records were obtained from a random sample of 150 Boston-area participants.

The study was renewed in 1991, 1997, and in 2003 to continue the follow-up of 51,529 male health professionals. The cohort is followed by questionnaires mailed at two-year intervals to update exposure information and ascertain nonfatal events. Complete dietary assessments are included every four years.A subset of 18,225 participants provided blood samples between 1993 and 1995. Genotyping was performed among 435 cardiovascular disease cases and 878 controls using Affymetrix 6.0 platform.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

50000

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Male Health Professionals

Description

Recruited through their professional organizations or occupation from mailing house lists.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incident CVD
Time Frame: Renewed every 5 years since 1986
Renewed every 5 years since 1986

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

Collaborators

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eric Rimm, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

December 1, 1985

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 25, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 25, 2000

First Posted (Estimate)

May 26, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 28, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2018

Last Verified

February 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1060
  • R00HL088372 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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