Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Diseases in The Elderly

To identify and describe the distribution of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in a cohort of free-living elderly persons.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in older persons in the United States. Nearly two-thirds of all deaths in men and women 65 years of age or older are due to some manifestation of cardiovascular disease. Further, cardiovascular disease is a major cause of disability in the elderly. Although there is relatively extensive epidemiologic data on risk factors for cardiovascular disease in younger individuals, particularly younger men, in 1986 when the study was initiated, relatively little information existed on the prevalence and antecedents of cardiovascular disease in men and women over 65 years of age. Further, the data that did exist tended to be contradictory. From a public health perspective, it was important to identify risk factors for cardiovascular disease in older individuals for several reasons. The numbers and proportion of elderly persons in the U.S. were growing, and would continue to grow well into the next century. This segment of our society, which comprised 12 percent of the population in 1986, accounted for one third of our health care costs. Older Americans will continue to make significant demands on the health care system in the coming decades. The identification of risk factors for this major public health problem (e.g., cardiovascular disease) may lead to interventions which would improve the health of older Americans and thus benefit the entire society.

Data for this project have been gathered since 1975 by the Dunedin Program, a population-based geriatric health-screening program. This Program was designed to screen persons 65 years of age or older for a wide variety of medical disorders. It was situated in Dunedin, Florida, which is on the mid-west Gulf coast. Each participant was seen at the clinic once a year. The clinic visit consisted of registration, a physical examination, and questionnaire/medication form. Data were available on family history of illnesses, illnesses of participant, smoking history, alcohol use, emotional status, coffee consumption, dietary habits, current symptoms, social activities, exercise, attitudes towards health care, height, weight, blood pressure, carotid artery auscultation, electrocardiogram, lipid levels, blood chemistries and blood counts, diabetes, urine samples, and medication use. In 1986, a total of 5,085 persons had completed the first screening examination and 1,540 had completed a full eight years of screening.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

In the first phase, follow-up time for each participant was computed and changes in risk factor status analyzed. Cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality rates were calculated. In the second phase, incidence rates of cardiovascular disease were computed by category of risk factor level at baseline. The relative risk of cardiovascular disease was calculated for each risk factor. Multivariable analyses were carried out in the third phase. Regression models were used to determine independent and interactive effects of the identified risk factors on the incidence of and mortality from cardiovascular disease.

The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Study Type

Observational

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

No older than 100 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

No eligibility criteria

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?

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Trudy Bush, Johns Hopkins University

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.

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

April 1, 1986

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 1992

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 (Estimate)

February 18, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 17, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1064
  • R23HL038628 (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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