The Prospective Studies of Atherosclerosis (Proof-ATHERO) Consortium: Design and Rationale.

Abstract

Atherosclerosis - the pathophysiological mechanism shared by most cardiovascular diseases - can be directly or indirectly assessed by a variety of clinical tests including measurement of carotid intima-media thickness, carotid plaque, -ankle-brachial index, pulse wave velocity, and coronary -artery calcium. The Prospective Studies of Atherosclerosis -(Proof-ATHERO) consortium (https://clinicalepi.i-med.ac.at/research/proof-athero/) collates de-identified individual-participant data of studies with information on atherosclerosis measures, risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and incidence of cardiovascular diseases. It currently comprises 74 studies that involve 106,846 participants from 25 countries and over 40 cities. In summary, 21 studies recruited participants from the general population (n = 67,784), 16 from high-risk populations (n = 22,677), and 37 as part of clinical trials (n = 16,385). Baseline years of contributing studies range from April 1980 to July 2014; the latest follow-up was until June 2019. Mean age at baseline was 59 years (standard deviation: 10) and 50% were female. Over a total of 830,619 person-years of follow-up, 17,270 incident cardiovascular events (including coronary heart disease and stroke) and 13,270 deaths were recorded, corresponding to cumulative incidences of 2.1% and 1.6% per annum, respectively. The consortium is coordinated by the Clinical Epidemiology Team at the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria. Contributing studies undergo a detailed data cleaning and harmonisation procedure before being incorporated in the Proof-ATHERO central database. Statistical analyses are being conducted according to pre-defined analysis plans and use established methods for individual-participant data meta-analysis. Capitalising on its large sample size, the multi-institutional collaborative Proof-ATHERO consortium aims to better characterise, understand, and predict the development of atherosclerosis and its clinical consequences.

• Authors: Lena Tschiderer, Lisa Seekircher, Gerhard Klingenschmid, Raffaele Izzo, Damiano Baldassarre, Bernhard Iglseder, Laura Calabresi, Jing Liu, Jackie F Price, Jang-Ho Bae, Frank P Brouwers, Eric de Groot, Caroline Schmidt, Göran Bergström, Gülay Aşçi, Paolo Gresele, Shuhei Okazaki, Kostas Kapellas, Manuel F Landecho, Naveed Sattar, Stefan Agewall, Zhi-Yong Zou, Christopher D Byrne, Prabath W B Nanayakkara, Aikaterini Papagianni, Miles D Witham, Enrique Bernal, Robert Ekart, Michiel A van Agtmael, Mario F Neves, Eiichi Sato, Marat Ezhov, Matthew Walters, Michael H Olsen, Radojica Stolić, Dorota A Zozulińska-Ziółkiewicz, Markolf Hanefeld, Daniel Staub, Michiaki Nagai, Pythia T Nieuwkerk, Menno V Huisman, Akihiko Kato, Hirokazu Honda, Grace Parraga, Dianna Magliano, Rafael Gabriel, Tatjana Rundek, Mark A Espeland, Stefan Kiechl, Johann Willeit, Lars Lind, Jean Philippe Empana, Eva Lonn, Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen, Alberico Catapano, Kuo-Liong Chien, Dirk Sander, Maryam Kavousi, Joline W J Beulens, Michiel L Bots, Michael J Sweeting, Matthias W Lorenz, Peter Willeit, Proof-ATHERO Study Group
• Journal: Gerontology (Gerontology) Vol. 66 Issue 5 Pg. 447-459 ( 2020) ISSN: 1423-0003 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 32610336 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2020 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Topics

• Aged
• Atherosclerosis (diagnosis)
• Cardiovascular Diseases (epidemiology)
• Carotid Intima-Media Thickness
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Predictive Value of Tests
• Prospective Studies
• Pulse Wave Analysis
• Research Design
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Factors