Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS)

March 23, 2020 updated by: Katherine Tucker, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

The Boston Puerto Rican Health Study: Center for Population Health and Health Disparities

The investigators long-term goal is to understand the complex interactions of diet and other behavioral and environmental factors, genetics, and psychosocial stress on the high and apparently increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Puerto Rican adults.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Puerto Rican adults living on the mainland US have documented health disparities; however, little research has been conducted with this second largest Hispanic subgroup. Our long-term goal is to understand the complex interactions of diet and other behavioral and environmental factors, genetics, and psychosocial stress on the high and apparently increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Puerto Rican adults. As this group is rapidly growing, understanding the reasons for this risk is of great importance. Our initial funding period for the Boston Puerto Rican Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (BPR-CPHHD, 2003-08) focused on the role of stress on physical disability and cognitive decline, through physiological dysregulation or "allostatic load." During that investigation, it became clear that risk factors for CVD were highly prevalent. These findings are in contrast to the commonly held belief that there is a Hispanic paradox--lower heart disease and mortality despite greater poverty. Importantly, the Puerto Rican population differs considerably in ancestral genetic history and in exposures to known risk factors from other Hispanic groups. They have unique dietary intake patterns, as well as social, cultural and environmental structures that contribute and affect reaction to stressors. During our initial funding period, we successfully assembled a cohort of 1500 Puerto Rican adults, aged 45-75 years at baseline, and completed two-year follow-up interviews on more than 1250 participants. As this population is aging and growing rapidly, the high prevalence and apparent cohort effect of increased heart disease risk factors suggest that 1) this population has serious health disparities in heart disease risk factors and 2) heart disease will become an even greater problem for this group in the near future. Our overall aim for this renewal is, therefore, to extend follow-up and to measure and analyze relevant characteristics and CVD risk factors, and to add additional contextual and outcome measures for CVD risk in this established cohort of Puerto Rican adults, so that we may better understand the dynamics of these disparities. Our model follows the transdisciplinary "cells to society" concept developed jointly with our partner CPHHDs during the initial funding period, with consideration of genetic variation in relation to longitudinal change in allostatic load and biochemical indicators of risk; with additional focus on social networks, neighborhood characteristics (physical space and access to food) and environment (air pollution) factors as social determinants of health. Finally, using community based participatory techniques, we will implement and test a multidimensional intervention that focuses on diet and exercise, but that also fully considers the social and physical environment to ensure success. With participation of our community partners, and the support of our administrative, biostatistics and laboratory cores, our team is efficiently poised to make significant contributions to understanding the factors that contribute to the apparent growing threat of heart disease in this highly disadvantaged group-while providing insights that may be useful to other vulnerable groups. The continuation of our cohort, with its rich constellation of measures, will allow us to unravel some of the complex etiologic interactions which contribute to CVD risk, so that effective interventions may be implemented. To date, we have completed approximately 840 5-year follow-up interviews.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

1650

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
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02111
        • Tufts University
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Northeastern University
      • Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, 01854
        • University of Massachusetts Lowell

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

45 years to 75 years (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Puerto Ricans older adults, aged 45-75 years, living in the Boston area.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • self-identified Puerto Rican decent
  • aged 45-75 at baseline
  • able to answer questions in English or Spanish
  • living in the Boston, MA metropolitan area

Exclusion Criteria:

  • unable to answer questions due to serious health conditions
  • plan to move away from the area within two years
  • Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score </=10

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Cardiovascular disease risk
Time Frame: 5 years
5 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
10-year risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
Time Frame: 5 years
10-year risk of CHD will be assessed using the Framingham Risk Score
5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Collaborators

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Tufts University
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Northeastern University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Katherine L. Tucker, PhD, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

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

June 1, 2004

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

October 1, 2009

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

November 30, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 4, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 29, 2010

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

November 1, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

March 25, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 23, 2020

Last Verified

March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • P50HL105185 (NIH)
  • P01AG023394 (NIH)

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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