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Framingham Heart Study

Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Synonyms

FHS

Definition

The Framingham Heart Study is a longitudinal cohort study that began in 1948 with 5209 participants to examine how lifestyle choices and psychosocial elements impact cardiovascular health. It helped coin the term “risk factors” in identifying clusters of variables, such as poor diet, lack of physical activity, and negative psychological factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Description

In 1948, the Framingham Heart Study ventured to better understand cardiovascular disease (CVD) in that little was known about the etiology of heart disease and stroke despite their epidemic prevalence resulting from steadily increasing rates since the 1900s. A joint project of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and Boston University, the Framingham Heart Study sought to longitudinally track a large cohort of participants who initially had not experienced a heart attack or stroke nor had any outward CVD symptoms. Initially, 5209 participants aged...

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References and Further Reading

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Correspondence to Andrew J. Wawrzyniak .

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Wawrzyniak, A.J. (2020). Framingham Heart Study. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_802-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_802-3

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Framingham Heart Study
    Published:
    19 May 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_802-3

  2. Original

    Framingham Heart Study
    Published:
    06 July 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_802-2