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Honolulu Heart Program (HHP-BioLINCC)

Data Access NOTE: Please refer to the “Authorized Access” section below for information about how access to the data from this accession differs from many other dbGaP accessions.

Access to Biospecimens is through the NHLBI Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC). Biospecimens from HHP include DNA, plasma, serum, and whole blood. Please note that use of biospecimens in genetic research is subject to a tiered consent.

Objectives: The initial objectives of the Honolulu Heart Program were to: 1) estimate morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke among Japanese men in Honolulu; 2) compare morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke among Japanese men in Japan, Honolulu, and San Francisco; 3) investigate relationships among risk factors, coronary heart disease, and stroke in Japanese men in Honolulu; 4) compare distributions of risk factors among men in Japan, Honolulu, and San Francisco, and relate similarities and differences in risk factors to the occurrence of disease in these areas and in other populations, including Framingham and Puerto Rico; 5) conduct an autopsy study, and to relate pathological findings to morbidity and mortality data; and 6) investigate relationships between risk factors and pathological evidence of atherosclerosis and its complications.

Background: The Honolulu Heart Program was initiated in 1965 by the NHLBI as a prospective study of environmental and biological causes of cardiovascular disease among Japanese Americans living in Hawaii. This population was known to have low incidence of coronary heart disease and higher incidence of stroke. The study provided opportunities to investigate relationships among disease frequencies, pathologic findings, and disease predictors in the cohort and to compare the findings in this population with those in other populations, especially cohorts of Japanese men resident in Japan or the U.S.

Participants: There were 8006 participants.

Design: The study began in 1965 with the first examination of a cohort of 8,006 Japanese-American men residing on the island of Oahu, Hawaii who were born during the period 1900-1919. The first examination was completed in 1968 and was followed by the initiation of a second examination that same year. Three subsequent sub-examinations (Lipoprotein Exams I, II and III) were conducted between 1970 and 1982 to collect lipid measurements on a subset of those who participated in Exam II. The fourth examination of surviving members of the original cohort was conducted during 1991-93 and collected data on 3,741 men. Morbidity and mortality follow-up continues through grant and contract-supported efforts, and the current HHP dataset includes events through 1998.