University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study

January 12, 2026 updated by: Duke University
To continue surveillance of the participants in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study, which tests the hypothesis that hostility and related psychosocial factors are involved in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

Prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) will be enhanced by controlling hypertension, reducing blood cholesterol, maintaining normal weight, increasing physical activity, reducing smoking, and having a healthy diet. Understanding how to achieve these important public health aims requires an understanding of the behavioral factors involved in prevention. Behavioral risk factors remain the single most preventable cause of human illness and suffering. The University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study is ideally suited to explore the associations between and among these important behavioral risk factors, and to understand how personality, in particular individual differences in hostility and depression act to determine individuals' risk factor behaviors, and to answer important questions about the role of hostility and psychosocial factors in CHD risk during the middle years.

The University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) is a prospective study of the role of psychosocial factors, in particular hostility, in the development of coronary heart disease. The target population is composed of persons who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory while attending the University of North Carolina in the mid-1960s.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Surveillance of the members of the UNC Alumni Heart Study continues for an additional five-year period . Studies continue on how hostility and other psychosocial factors are related to each other and how they contribute to coronary heart disease risk. Data are analyzed in order to test hypotheses about the role of psychosocial factors in weight parameters, dietary practices and the contribution of spouse hostility to coronary risk.

To better understand the dynamic interrelationships of psychosocial and behavioral risk factors of the adult life span, the trajectories of hostility, depression, smoking, body mass, exercise patterns, and alcohol consumption will be mapped using multiple assessments from age 19 to age 60. It is predicted that a significant proportion of the change in risk behavior will be due to trajectories of hostility and depression, operating singly and in combination over time. Tests will be made of the prospective associations of hostility, depression, and other psychosocial variables (e.g., social support and job strain) with coronary events and mortality observed while the cohort is middle-aged. The scope of the psychosocial variables will be broadened to examine individual differences in personality over the life course and dietary practices at midlife in addition to the indicators noted above. The effect of gender on the natural history of coronary disease and coronary risk profiles in women will be examined by monitoring changes in menopausal status, and patterns of hormone replacement therapy use among women during midlife and the associations of these factors with the other risk indicators.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

6340

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27705
        • Duke University, Behavioral Medicine Research Center

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

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

participants in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study

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?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
1; no experimental groups in this study
Observational cohort study
Other: There is no intervention
No applicable

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Coronary Heart Disease
Time Frame: approximately 30 years
This is a descriptive cohort study
approximately 30 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Duke University

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ilene C. Siegler, PhD, MPH, Duke 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.

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

May 1, 1996

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 25, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 25, 2000

First Posted (Estimated)

May 26, 2000

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

January 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00013233
  • P01HL036587 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • R01HL055356 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • R01MH066079 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 4311

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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