title: Rationale, design, and methods for Canadian alliance for healthy hearts and minds cohort study (CAHHM) - a Pan Canadian cohort study.
abstract: The Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) is a pan-Canadian, prospective, multi-ethnic cohort study being conducted in Canada. The overarching objective of the CAHHM is to understand the association of socio-environmental and contextual factors (such as societal structure, activity, nutrition, social and tobacco environments, and access to health services) with cardiovascular risk factors, subclinical vascular disease, and cardiovascular and other chronic disease outcomes.
  
  
  
  Participants between 35 and 69 years of age are being recruited from existing cohorts and a new First Nations Cohort to undergo a detailed assessment of health behaviours (including diet and physical activity), cognitive function, assessment of their local home and workplace environments, and their health services access and utilization. Physical measures including weight, height, waist/hip circumference, body fat percentage, and blood pressure are collected. In addition, eligible participants undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, heart, carotid artery and abdomen to detect early subclinical vascular disease and ectopic fat deposition.
  
  
  
  CAHHM is a prospective cohort study designed to investigate the impact of community level factors, individual health behaviours, and access to health services, on cognitive function, subclinical vascular disease, fat distribution, and the development of chronic diseases among adults living in Canada.
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. anands@mcmaster.ca.|Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Canada. anands@mcmaster.ca.|Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton, Canada. anands@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Sonia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Jack V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Awadalla
authors.affiliation: Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: CARTaGENE, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boileau
authors.affiliation: Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Busseuil
authors.affiliation: Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Canada.|Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Dipika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Laval University, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Després
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Russell J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.affiliation: CARTaGENE, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dummer
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacquemont
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Bartha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knoppers
authors.affiliation: Laval University, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Larose
authors.affiliation: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lear
authors.affiliation: Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marcotte
authors.affiliation: Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Moody
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Quebec, Canada.|Laval University, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poirier
authors.affiliation: Alberta Health Sciences, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Paula J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.affiliation: University of Cagary, Calgary, Canada.
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: BC Cancer Agency and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.affiliation: Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Tardif
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.|Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Koon K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Teo
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Natasa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tusevljak
authors.affiliation: McGill University, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Matthias G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Friedrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D049628:Body Size; D002170:Canada; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors