A data harmonization project of 3 large prospective cardiovascular health-focused cohorts

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Health Research
• Psychosocial Factors in Health
• Data Harmonization Techniques

Background:

• Limited prospective studies explore multilevel resilience resources and psychosocial factors impacting cardiovascular health.
• Existing research suggests resilience resources may reduce cardiovascular disease events, but lacks diversity in racial/ethnic populations and cohort size.
• Data harmonization offers a solution by enabling pooled analysis of multiple cohorts, increasing statistical power, particularly for underrepresented groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process of harmonizing data from three major cardiovascular health cohorts.
• To prepare a unified dataset for investigating the relationship between resilience resources and cardiovascular health outcomes.
• To facilitate future research on resilience and inform public health policies.

Main Methods:

• Combined data from the Jackson Heart Study, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America Study.
• Employed systematic data harmonization techniques for exposures (resilience resources), outcomes (American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7), and covariates (race/ethnicity).
• Conducted psychometric analyses on harmonized variables and included 13,284 participants in the final dataset.

Main Results:

• Successfully harmonized data from three distinct cardiovascular health cohorts into a single, large dataset.
• The harmonized dataset comprises 13,284 participants, enabling robust analysis of resilience factors.
• Established a framework for future research on resilience resources and cardiovascular health using harmonized data.

Conclusions:

• Data harmonization is a viable strategy to increase sample size and power for studying cardiovascular health across diverse populations.
• The harmonized dataset provides a valuable resource for advancing research on resilience and its impact on cardiovascular disease.
• Findings from this harmonized data can inform the development of targeted interventions and public health policies to promote cardiovascular well-being.