JACC Focus Seminar: The Best of Population Research Studies
JACC Focus Seminar
The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) Study: JACC Focus Seminar 3/8

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Highlights

  • ARIC characterized a biracial cohort and followed it for multiple outcomes over 33 years.

  • Among the achievements of ARIC are documentation of 27-year community-based trends in myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease mortality, and 10-year trends for heart failure.

  • Future efforts will focus on cardiovascular risk and late-life outcomes, including cognitive and functional decline related to aging.

Abstract

ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk In Communities) initiated community-based surveillance in 1987 for myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and mortality and created a prospective cohort of 15,792 Black and White adults ages 45 to 64 years. The primary aims were to improve understanding of the decline in CHD mortality and identify determinants of subclinical atherosclerosis and CHD in Black and White middle-age adults. ARIC has examined areas including health disparities, genomics, heart failure, and prevention, producing more than 2,300 publications. Results have had strong clinical impact and demonstrate the importance of population-based research in the spectrum of biomedical research to improve health.

Key Words

adult
cohort study
epidemiology
health disparity
risk factors
surveillance

Abbreviations and Acronyms

ADHF
acute decompensated heart failure
AF
atrial fibrillation
AHA
American Heart Association
CHD
coronary heart disease
CKD
chronic kidney disease
CVD
cardiovascular disease
ECG
electrocardiogram
EHR
electronic health record
HF
heart failure
IMT
intima-media thickness
MI
myocardial infarction
MRI
magnetic resonance imaging
NHLBI
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NIH
National Institutes of Health

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