The Jackson Heart Study (JHS)

Project Period: 10/15/1997 - 5/31/2013
Contact: Ms. Cheryl Nelson

The Jackson Heart Study(JHS) study is the largest investigation of causes of CVD in an African-American population, involving 5,300 men and women in Jackson, MS. It is uniquely positioned to investigate CVD risk factors, especially manifestations related to hypertension such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and renal disease.

Exam 1 (2000-2004) included demographics, psychosocial inventories, medical history, anthropometry, resting and ambulatory blood pressure, phlebotomy and 24-hour urine collection, ECG, echocardiography, and pulmonary function. Exam 2 (2005-2008) included some repeated measures from Exam 1 and several new components, including distribution of self-monitoring blood pressure devices, DNA collection, and a CT scan to measure coronary artery calcium and abdominal fat. Exam 3 (2009; ends 2012) contains some repeated measures from the first two exams and new questionnaires for assessment of sleep history and cognitive function and cardiac MRI scans with gadolinium MRI contrast in a subset of participants to identify silent myocardial infarctions. Major abnormal findings are reported to the participants and to their health care providers. Follow-up for vital status and additional data collection including identification of intervening clinic events is conducted annually by phone.

The institutions involved in the JHS contract are the University of Mississippi Medical Center (Data Acquisition Center at the) and two Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Jackson State University (Data Coordinating Center) and Tougaloo College (Undergraduate Training Center) where selected students are given the opportunity to take course work in public health and epidemiology and gain practical experience in health research to help prepare them for potential careers in these fields.

Last Updated March 2011