Table 1.
Included studies
| Countries | Total number of individuals (n) | Participants after exclusion (n)* | Ethnic origins (n, %)† | Endpoints | Age at baseline (years) | Men (n, %)† | Scan interval‡ (mean, years) | Follow-up after second scan (mean, years) | Segments | Measurements | Intima- media thickness definition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atherosclerosis and Insulin Resistance14 | Sweden | 391 | 297 | White (297, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 57–58 | 297 (100·0%) | 3·2 | 5·6 | CCA, BIF | Far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study15§ | USA | 14 289 | 12 221 | White (9448, 77·3%), African American (2773, 22·7%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death | 45–64 | 5217 (42·7%) | 2·9 | 8·2 | CCA, BIF, ICA | Near and far wall, left and right, three insonation angles (CCA) | Mean, maximal |
| Bogalusa Heart Study16 | USA | 1399 | 558 | White (395, 70·8%), African American (163, 29·2%) | Death, vascular death | 24–43 | 241 (43·2%) | 2·3 | 4·5 | CCA, BIF, ICA | Far wall, left and right | Maximal |
| Bruneck Study17 | Austria, Italy | 821 | 633 | White (633, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 45–84 | 299 (47·2%) | 5·0 | 9·1 | CCA, ICA | Near and far wall, left and right | Mean¶, maximal |
| Cardiovascular Health Study,18 cohort 1|| | USA | 5201 | 3551 | White (3382, 95·2%), African American (153, 4·3%), other (16, 0·5%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 65–95 | 1380 (38·9%) | 2·9 | 9·9 | CCA, ICA | Near and far wall, left and right, three insonation angles (ICA) | Mean, maximal |
| Cardiovascular Health Study,18 cohort 2|| | USA | 687 | 297 | African American (296, 99·7%), other (1, 0·3%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 64–86 | 98 (33·0%) | 5·9 | 5·6 | CCA, ICA | Near and far wall, left and right, three insonation angles (ICA) | Mean, maximal |
| Carotid Atherosclerosis Progression Study19 | Germany | 6972 | 3284 | White (3284, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death | 19–87 | 1591 (48·4%) | 3·2 | 5·3 | CCA, BIF, ICA | Far wall, left and right | Mean |
| Edinburgh Artery Study20 | UK | 1605 | 613 | White (613, 1000%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 60–80 | 291 (47·5%) | 6·6 | 5·7 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Etude sur le vieillissement artériel21 | France | 1040 | 922 | White (922, 100·0%) | Vascular death, death | 59–71 | 367 (39·8%) | 2·0 | 14·1 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean |
| Interventionsprojekt zerebrovaskuläre Erkrankungen und Demenz im Landkreis Ebersberg22 | Germany | 3908 | 2534 | White (2534, 100·0%)§ | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death | 53–94 | 985 (38·9%) | 2·1 | 4·0 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean |
| Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Study23 | Finland | 1399 | 849 | White (849, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 42–61 | 849 (100·0%) | 4·1 | 15·4 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Northern Manhattan Study/The Oral Infections and Vascular Disease Epidemiology Study24 | USA | 784** | 653 | Hispanic (403, 61·7%), white (250, 38·3%) | Myocardial infarction,†† stroke, death, vascular death | 48–94 | 257 (39·4%) | 3·6 | 3·0 | CCA, BIF, ICA | Near and far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Progression of Lesions in the Intima of the Carotid25 | Italy | 1782 | 1538 | White (1538, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 15–82 | 607 (39·5%) | 2·2 | 4·1 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors26 | Sweden | 1017 | 680 | White (680, 100·0%) | Death | 70 | 313 (46·0%) | 5·1 | 1·9 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Rotterdam Study27 | Netherlands | 7983 | 2611 | White (2549, 98·7%), other (62, 1·3%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death | 55–95 | 991 (38·0%) | 6·5 | 5·8 | CCA | Near and far wall, left and right | Mean, maximal |
| Study of Health in Pomerania28 | Germany | 4308 | 1751 | White (1751, 100·0%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death | 44–80 | 874 (49·9%) | 5·2 | 5·9 | CCA | Far wall, left and right | Mean |
| Tromsø Study29 | Norway | 4821 | 3992 | Norwegian (3615, 98·1%), other (377, 1·9%) | Myocardial infarction, stroke, death, vascular death | 25–79 | 1823 (45·7%) | 6·3 | 4·4 | CCA, BIF | Near and far wall, right side | Mean, maximal |
CCA=common carotid artery. BIF=carotid bifurcation. ICA=internal carotid artery.
Reasons for exclusion were myocardial infarction, stroke, or death before the second ultrasound visit, or fewer than two ultrasound scans.
After exclusion.
Time between first and second ultrasound scan.
Declined to participate, public-use dataset included.
Excluded from mean common carotid artery intima-media thickness analyses because it had not assessed mean carotid intima-media thickness at two ultrasound scans.
The Cardiovascular Health Study consists of two cohorts, one of white participants and one of African American participants that was begun 3 years later, when the first follow-up visit of the white cohort was due. They were treated as different cohorts in all subsequent analyses.
A small sample was included because of the need to await adjudication of outcome events by the study neurologists and cardiologists at the time of analyses. No inference should be made about conclusions regarding the full sample.
No myocardial infarctions happened after exclusion of the events that occurred before the second scan.