Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) (ECHORN)

The Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) is a collaborative research study that examines the lifestyles, eating habits, and health behaviors associated with cancer, diabetes and heart disease in adult men and women living in the Eastern Caribbean.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cardiovascular Disease; Diabetes; Cancer

Detailed Description

The Eastern Caribbean Health Outcomes Research Network (ECHORN) has two aims: (1) To form a research collaborative across the Eastern Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Trinidad & Tobago to recruit and follow a community-dwelling adult cohort to estimate the prevalence of known and potential risk factors associated with the development of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes and (2) To enhance health outcomes research leadership capacity in the region through a series of dedicated activities locally and abroad. ECHORN will expand clinical research with racial/ethnic minority populations in a transitioning part of the globe now threatened with an epidemic of noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCD). ECHORN's findings will have direct implications for the health disparities research and policy agenda in the mainland United States. In the long term, the links ECHORN will facilitate with local health policy delegations and global strategic organizational partners will promote the translation of research to improve health outcomes across the region. The collection and storage of biological specimens will also contribute to national biomonitoring projects and has the potential to identify unique risk and protective factors in the development of NCD.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 2961

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Barbados
  • Bridgetown, Barbados, BB 11000
    • University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus
• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00936-5067
    • University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus
• Trinidad and Tobago
  • West Indies
    • St. Augustine, West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
      • University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus
• Virgin Islands (U.S.)
  • Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands (U.S.), 00802-9990
    • University of the Virgin Islands

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The population-based prospective cohort is comprised of adults aged 40 and older living in four countries: Puerto Rico (PR), Barbados (BB), the US Virgin Islands (USVI), and Trinidad and Tobago (TT).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Greater than or equal to 40 years of age
• English or Spanish language speaking
• Resident of island at least 10 years
• Able to provide informed consent
• Non-institutionalized at the time of data collection
• Stable contact/residential information
• No plans to relocate from island within the next 5 years

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of non-communicable diseases	Prevalence of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, heart disease and diabetes.	5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yale University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS, Yale School of Medicine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 14, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): June 14, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 19, 2013
• First Posted (Estimate): November 26, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 18, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 13, 2022
• Last Verified: July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: diabetes; cancer; cardiovascular disease
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1108008959; 5U24MD006938 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: A Data Access and Scientific Review Committee (DASR), was been established to oversee requests for research collaboration (e.g. ancillary studies, secondary data analyses, etc.) to ensure they are within the scope of ECHORN's research mandate. Per the ECHORN Data Access Policy, de-identified, limited ECHORN datasets have been made available for public access.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No