Description of Collaborative Activity: |
The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which began in 1985, seeks to 1) monitor trends in the incidence and mortality of coronary heart disease and heart failure through a surveillance program in four communities and 2) assess determinants in development and progression of subclinical and clinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) through a cohort follow-up study of 15,796 white and African American persons aged 45-64 at baseline. Since 2005, CMS data has been provided through an interagency agreement. The data is being used to validate and capture all the heart failure cases in persons aged 65 yrs and older in the ARIC cohorts and to validate and capture morbidity and mortality status of these individuals. In addition, CMS data are being used to enhance ARIC CVD outcomes research by enabling researchers to study determinants related to medical care access, quality, cost, and outcomes. Conference calls are conducted among staff of the study, the CMS, and the NHLBI to discuss the data availability, confidentiality, quality, distribution, and to identify research opportunities. |
