TY - JOUR
T1 - An update on cardiovascular disease epidemiology in South East Asia. Rationale and design of the LIFE course study in CARdiovascular disease Epidemiology (LIFECARE)
AU - Tai, E. Shyong
AU - Poulton, Richie
AU - Thumboo, Julian
AU - Sy, Rody
AU - Castillo-Carandang, Nina
AU - Sritara, Piyamitr
AU - Adam, John M.F.
AU - Sim, Kui Hian
AU - Fong, Alan
AU - Wee, Hwee Lin
AU - Woodward, Mark
N1 - Funding Information:
The LIFECARE study will recruit four cohorts of 3000 subjects each (total 12,000 subjects) in four countries in South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Each of these countries has experienced an increased burden of CVD and its risk factors. This has been most clearly documented in Thailand [42] and the Philippines [43] . Although each country has the independence to incorporate distinct aspects into their individual studies, each study site also follows a standardized core protocol that is described in this manuscript. This core protocol was jointly developed by the study advisory committee, which includes representative from each country-specific cohort. The study was initiated in 2008, and partially funded by Pfizer Inc. through an Investigator Initiated Research Grant.
PY - 2009/6
Y1 - 2009/6
N2 - The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is likely to increase dramatically in Asia over the next several decades. In this paper, we review the existing data on CVD epidemiology in Asia, with a focus on the INTERHEART study and the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. Existing data suggests that much of CVD may be preventable through reduction in the levels of well-established CVD risk factors and that these findings are likely to be relevant to Asian populations. However, these studies have several important limitations. These include a lack of longitudinal studies with collection of repeated measures of CVD risk factors and the environmental factors that may result in the age-related increase in the levels of these risk factors. As such, the natural history of the development of CVD risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia in Asia, and their relationship in terms of duration and timing of exposure to various environmental influences is currently unknown. In addition, there is a paucity of data related to psychosocial factors that may be involved in the pathogenesis of CVD, either directly or through effects on other CVD risk factors. Finally, little data is available with regards to the impact of CVD and its attendant risk factors on health related quality of life and health care utilization. This information is crucial for the design and evaluation of evidence based programs for primary prevention. We have designed a LIFE Course Study in CARdiovascular disease Epidemiology (LIFECARE) involving 12,000 individuals in four South East Asian countries to address these data needs.
AB - The burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is likely to increase dramatically in Asia over the next several decades. In this paper, we review the existing data on CVD epidemiology in Asia, with a focus on the INTERHEART study and the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. Existing data suggests that much of CVD may be preventable through reduction in the levels of well-established CVD risk factors and that these findings are likely to be relevant to Asian populations. However, these studies have several important limitations. These include a lack of longitudinal studies with collection of repeated measures of CVD risk factors and the environmental factors that may result in the age-related increase in the levels of these risk factors. As such, the natural history of the development of CVD risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia in Asia, and their relationship in terms of duration and timing of exposure to various environmental influences is currently unknown. In addition, there is a paucity of data related to psychosocial factors that may be involved in the pathogenesis of CVD, either directly or through effects on other CVD risk factors. Finally, little data is available with regards to the impact of CVD and its attendant risk factors on health related quality of life and health care utilization. This information is crucial for the design and evaluation of evidence based programs for primary prevention. We have designed a LIFE Course Study in CARdiovascular disease Epidemiology (LIFECARE) involving 12,000 individuals in four South East Asian countries to address these data needs.
KW - Asia
KW - Cardiovascular disease
KW - Health care utilization
KW - Life course epidemiology
KW - Psychosocial factors
KW - Quality of life
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cvdpc.2009.02.003
DO - 10.1016/j.cvdpc.2009.02.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:62749139473
SN - 1875-4570
VL - 4
SP - 93
EP - 102
JO - CVD Prevention and Control
JF - CVD Prevention and Control
IS - 2
ER -