Epidemiology of Coronary Calcification in the Elderly

January 12, 2016 updated by: Anne B. Newman, University of Pittsburgh
To investigate the prevalence and prognostic value of subclinical atherosclerosis in the Pittsburgh SHEP cohort and a cohort of normal controls.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

This is an ancillary study to the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP)

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Continued annual telephone follow-up of the remaining 178 Pittsburgh SHEP participants and 168 controls will be conducted . A final clinic visit will include measures of coronary and aortic calcification using electron beam computed tomography (CT), pulse wave velocity as a measure of aortic stiffening and cognitive function testing. For the Pittsburgh SHEP cohort, the antihypertensive treatment effect has been striking with event rates for the active and placebo groups continuing to diverge beyong the end of SHEP. Successful demonstration of a treatment effect on coronary calcium scores would be the first randomized data showing an antihypertensive effect directly in the coronary arteries. Risk factors for coronary calcification will be evaluated, producing data of a type not yet available in the literature for older adults and not being collected in any other ongoing studies of the elderly. The added measures of vascular stiffness will supplement the extensive data on subclinical atherosclerosis already available for this cohort. The extent to which these measures predict cardiovascular events will be evaluated. The study has been renewed through July 2006.

Since hypertension and aging are associated with cognitive impairment and vascular dementia, SHEP participants assigned to the placebo group are expected to have lower cognitive function compared to those assigned to active treatment. Among both hypertensive and normotensive groups, lower cognitive function among those with evidence of subclinical atherosclerosis is expected.

Finally, members of the cohort who were originally normotensive at study entry are now developing systolic hypertension. These subjects will allow a prospective evaluation of risk factors for systolic hypertension. Continued study of this cohort into their 80s will provide unique data on the risks and etiology of systolic hypertension, the efficacy of its treatment and the prognostic value of a number of measures of subclinical atherosclerosis. It is predicted that the results will be directly applicable to the largest growing segment of the U.S. population.

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

65 years to 100 years (Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

614 older adults aged, on average, 80 years (range, 67 to 99 years); 367 (60%) were women, and 143 (23%) were black.

Description

Participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) at the University of Pittsburgh Site.

Inclusion criteria:

Age 65 or older in 1989-90 Able to give informed consent Able to travel to study site No plans to move from the area within 3 years of CHS enrollment

Exclusion criteria:

Inability to give informed consent at time of EBCT scan Unable to travel to study center Lives in nursing home.

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

  • Principal Investigator: Anne B. Newman, MD, University of Pittsburgh

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

August 1, 1999

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2007

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)

January 13, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 12, 2016

Last Verified

January 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 5111
  • R01HL064587 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

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.

Clinical Trials on Heart Diseases

3
Subscribe