Framingham Heart Study - Offspring Cohort (FHS Offspring)
The FHS began in 1948 and aims to identify common factors or characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease. The FHS has been expanded to become a multigenerational study and to include diverse populations so that risk factors in these different groups can be understood. The FHS Offspring cohort aims to study the familial aggregation and heritability of cardiovascular disease and to study a group of younger adults in Massachusetts, United States of America. Over 5,000 participants were recruited from the offspring of the FHS Original cohort and their spouses. Baseline exams were conducted from 1971 to 1975, and participants have undergone 10 exams in total. The most recent follow-up was from 2019 to 2022.
Study design
Cohort
Number of participants at first data collection
5,124 (participants)
Age at first data collection
5 - 70 years (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1971
Primary Institutions
Boston University (BU)
Links
framinghamheartstudy.org/participants/participant-cohorts/
Profile paper DOI
Funders
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Ongoing?
Yes
Data types collected
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Interview – face-to-face
- Interview – phone
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Secondary data
- Self-report questionnaire – online
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Healthcare data
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
