The VALIDATE study

这是一项纵向观察性研究，不包括任何干预措施。有三个研究小组。第一组由没有已知的冠状动脉疾病的BLSA参与者组成;第二组由冠状动脉钙化评分低于其年龄和性别的第25百分位数的个体组成;第三组由患有早发冠状动脉疾病的个体组成（女性在年龄<60时诊断，男性在年龄<50时诊断）或冠状动脉钙评分大于其年龄和性别的第50百分位数。 上述第二组和第三组的参与者是从约翰霍普金斯医疗机构招募的。招募已完成，研究的纵向部分正在进行中，所有第二次访视中有近一半已完成。正在对第一次访问进行分析，以评估横截面调查结果，一旦所有第二次访问完成，就可以扩大到纵向分析。 未来分析计划： 根据以下内容构建相关变量的z评分： O 所有数据 总体和年龄调整后 O 正常组（BLSA参与者），包括总体和年龄调整后的 对各组z分数进行主成分分析，以揭示变量之间的任何模式 尝试找出z分数是否以任何方式聚类判别分析可能是解决这个问题的合适方法（或聚类分析） 根据单个变量和变量组识别动脉老化良好的BLSA参与者。 在其他组中查找在选定变量上具有相似特征的受试者。

This is a longitudinal, observational study, which does not include any intervention. There are three study groups. The first group consists of BLSA participants without known coronary disease; the second consists of individuals with a coronary artery calcium score less than the 25th percentile for their age and gender; the third group consists of individuals with premature coronary artery disease (diagnosis made at age <60 in females and <50 in males) or with a coronary calcium score which is greater than the 50th percentile for their age and gender. Participants in the second and third group listed above are recruited from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Recruitment has been completed and the longitudinal portion of the study is ongoing with nearly one-half of all second visits completed. Analysis of the first visits is being conducted to assess cross sectional findings which can then be expanded to a longitudinal analysis once all second visits are completed. The future analytic plan: Construct z-scores for relevant variables based on: o All the data both overall and age adjusted o The normal group (BLSA participants) both overall and age adjusted Conduct a principal components analysis on the various sets of z-scores to uncover any patterns among the variables Try to find out if the z-scores cluster in any way a discriminant analysis might be an appropriate way to approach this issue (or cluster analysis) Identify BLSA participants with good arterial aging based on single variables and on groups of variables. Find subjects in other groups who have similar profiles on the selected variables.