African Studies on Aging and Noncommunicable Diseases Epidemiology (ASANDE)

Despite the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), across Africa, high-quality evidence on the distribution of NCDs and their risk factors remains strikingly scarce. Many global estimates continue to rely on limited empirical data from African countries, and this persistent data gap has led major international research collaborations to underrepresent the continent. This reality highlights an urgent need for granular, context-specific, and methodologically robust data on NCDs and their determinants across Africa.

The African Studies on Ageing and Noncommunicable Disease Epidemiology (ASANDE) initiative responds directly to this need by assembling harmonized, individual-level datasets from African populations, complemented by comparable data from other global regions. With recruitment underway, ASANDE seeks to quantify and compare the associations between major NCD risk factors, including cardiometabolic, behavioral, and environmental determinants, and the incidence and mortality of major NCD outcomes (cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, and other NCDs) across world regions, with a particular emphasis on disparities between African populations and the rest of the global population.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Cancer; Mortality; Cardiovascular; Cardio Vascular Disease

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1000000

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Senegal
  • Dakar, Senegal
    • Institut Pasteur de Dakar; Address: 36, Avenue Pasteur, B.P. 220 - Dakar, Senegal

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

The ASANDE platform integrates harmonised individual-level data from more than 1 million participants across over 100 countries and six continents, derived from nationally representative cross-sectional surveys and population-based longitudinal cohort studies. Participating studies are organised into major geographical region: Asia; Eastern Europe; North Africa and the Middle East; North and Latin America; Sub-Saharan Africa; and Western Europe, thereby facilitating rigorous regional and inter-regional comparisons. The harmonised dataset provides standardised and comparable information on major noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors, including body-mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking status, and diabetes mellitus, together with data on major NCD outcomes, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and cause-specific mortality.

Description

- Inclusion criteria

We included cross-sectional surveys and longitudinal population-based studies providing individual-level data on established noncommunicable disease (NCD) risk factors, including body-mass index, systolic blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, current smoking status, and diabetes mellitus, together with information on predefined NCD outcomes of interest (including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and other major NCDs). For longitudinal studies, prospective ascertainment of incident events and mortality was required.

- Exclusion criteria

Participants were excluded if they were younger than 18 years at the time of assessment, had missing data on the outcome of interest, had no available information on the exposure variables (NCD risk factors), or, for longitudinal analyses, had a documented history of the respective NCD outcome at baseline.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
non communicable diseases	Event rates of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and NCD subtypes: First fatal or non-fatal diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases (including myocardial infarction, unstable angina, coronary revascularization, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke), cancer, chronic respiratory diseases (including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma), type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, or other major NCD-related outcomes, as well as NCD-related or unclassifiable death. The type of outcome measurement varies across cohorts. NCD cases and subtypes are assessed through self-reported questionnaire information, clinical examinations, medical record validation, national hospital discharge registry data, disease-specific registries (e.g., cancer registries), causes of death registry data, or central death registries, depending on the study protocol of the respective cohort studies.	Median follow-up of approximately 10 years across cohorts.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Alliance For Medical Research in Africa
• Collaborators: Institut Pasteur de Dakar

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 16, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 23, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 23, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 16, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: ASANDE001

Drug and device information, study documents

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