Overview of the Jackson Heart Study: a Study of Cardiovascular Diseases in African American Men and Women

The Jackson Heart Study is a partnership among Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and Office of Research on Minority Health. The purposes of the study are to: (1) establish a single-site cohort study to identify the risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases, especially those related to hypertension, in African American men and women; (2) build research capabilities in minority institutions by building partnerships; (3) attract minority students to careers in public health and epidemiology; and (4) establish an NHLBI Field Site in Jackson, Mississippi, similar to those established for the Framingham Heart Study and the Honolulu Heart Program. The study will consist of participants from the Jackson site of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study and a sample of residents from the Jackson metropolitan area. The study will have a sample size of approximately 6,500 men and women aged 35-84 years and will include approximately 400 families. Exam 1 is scheduled to take place in the spring of the year 2000.