title: Chicago Healthy Aging Study: objectives and design.
abstract: Investigators in the Chicago Healthy Aging Study (CHAS) reexamined 1,395 surviving participants aged 65-84 years (28% women) from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (CHA) 1967-1973 cohort whose cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profiles were originally ascertained at ages 25-44 years. CHAS investigators reexamined 421 participants who were low-risk (LR) at baseline and 974 participants who were non-LR at baseline. LR was defined as having favorable levels of 4 major CVD risk factors: serum total cholesterol level <200 mg/dL and no use of cholesterol-lowering medication; blood pressure 120/≤80 mm Hg and no use of antihypertensive medication; no current smoking; and no history of diabetes or heart attack. While the potential of LR status in overcoming the CVD epidemic is being recognized, the long-term association of LR with objectively measured health in older age has not been examined. It is hypothesized that persons who were LR in 1967-1973 and have survived to older age will have less clinical and subclinical CVD, lower levels of inflammatory markers, and better physical performance/functioning and sleep quality. Here we describe the rationale, objectives, design, and implementation of this longitudinal epidemiologic study, compare baseline and follow-up characteristics of participants and nonparticipants, and highlight the feasibility of reexamining study participants after an extended period postbaseline with minimal interim contact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. apirza2@uic.edu
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pirzada
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Garside
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Thanh-Huyen T
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Vu
authors.forename: Donald M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lloyd-Jones
authors.forename: Phyllis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zee
authors.forename: Kiang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jeremiah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stamler
authors.forename: Martha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Daviglus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood* / Q000592:standards; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: cardiovascular disease; epidemiologic studies; follow-up examination; risk factors