Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

Highlighting further key findings and accomplishments, the ARIC study:

• Became the first U.S. population-based study to establish a specific clinical characteristic — thickness of the carotid intima-media (IMT) — as a marker or indicator for atherosclerosis before other detectable signs or symptoms. Accounting for this marker in clinical care can improve heart disease outcomes.
• Provided long-term, prospective data about how previously unknown risk factors such as lipoprotein A or vitamin D levels and fat distribution impact heart disease in Black and African American people. 
• Increased understanding of risk factors for heart failure so researchers could create useful models to predict heart failure and stroke. These models include information specifically about risks for Black and African American people, some of the first models to do so. 
• Became the first study to document a set of health metrics that indicate likelihood for heart disease and provide evidence that the number of health metrics a person meets relates to their risk for heart disease. The American Heart Association calls this set of health metrics Life’s Essential 8. 
• Played a major role in identifying specific gene mutations (PCSK9 mutations) that can lead to low cholesterol levels and decreased coronary heart disease risk.
• Identified that high levels of inflammatory markers are associated with a higher risk for diabetes, a discovery that helped drive the current understanding of the ways inflammation can cause diabetes.
• Produced some of the first evidence that lifestyle factors contribute to the risk of venous thromboembolism, a blood clot that starts in a vein. The findings offered some key areas to target prevention efforts. 
   

The cohort was started in 1985 to improve researchers’ understanding of what they observed from community surveillance. Data were validated using standard methods for cohort studies that follow a group of people over a long period of time. They were also validated through additional information, such as risk factors and out-of-hospital medical care.

Researchers recruited 15,792 Black and white adults ages 45 to 64, who completed four clinic exams in the first decade of the study (1987-1989, 1990 -1992, 1993 -1995, and 1996 -1998). 

Starting in 2011, additional exams were conducted (2011-13, 2016-17, and 2018-19). Participants are also contacted by telephone twice a year to report on their health and any hospitalizations.