CHAMPLAIN COMMUNITY HEART HEALTH
SURVEY

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

What is the "Champlain District"?

The Champlain District of Ontario encompasses a significant portion of southeastern Ontario (approximately 15,000 square km) and includes four municipal planning areas: the City of Ottawa, Renfrew County, the Eastern Counties of Prescott & Russell and Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry, and the northern parts of Leeds, Grenville & Lanark County. Home to almost 1.2 million residents, or 10% of the population of Ontario, the Champlain District boasts a rich diversity of urban and rural communities, as well as socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic populations.

[Back to top]

 

How will people be selected and invited for this study?

Selection is methodological, but random. We start off with a list of postal codes within the Champlain District, and then randomly select a statistically representative subset of these postal codes. A complete list of households from within each of the randomly selected postal codes is obtained. From these lists, a fraction of households will be selected, randomly, for each of the postal codes. Households selected will be mailed a brochure and invitation to participate, requesting that one person from each household participate in the survey. Interviewers will call these households shortly after the mail-out, to determine eligibility and willingness to participate. 

[Back to top]

 

What does the physical assessment entail?

Participants in the study will be asked to undergo a physical assessment, which will include:

  • blood pressure and heart rate measurement
  • anthropometric measurements: height, weight, waist, hips, arm/hip/calf/head circumferences
  • grip strength measurement
  • body fat percentage estimate
  • electrocardiogram (ECG) - a standard way of assessing how healthy your heart is
  • breathing test (spirometry) - a standard way of assessing how healthy your lungs are
  • 8-hour fasting blood sample to study cholesterol, other blood lipids, glucose, and genetic factors related to heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer
  • a urine sample

The blood and urine samples are collected for biochemical analyses. They will be processed locally, at the Ottawa Hospital laboratory, and participants will receive results of their blood glucose and cholesterol testing in the mail, in the coming month.  A small amount of their blood sample will be transferred, along with the urine sample, for long-term storage at the core lab in the Hamilton General Hospital for future analyses as part of the international PURE study.  These samples, like the rest of samples from participants, will be labeled with a unique ID number (containing no identifying or personal information). Samples transferred to Hamilton will be processed together with those of other participants of the PURE study when the number of participants is sufficient for obtaining meaningful and statistically valid conclusions.

The future analyses of blood samples transferred to the core lab at the Hamilton General Hospital will also include a genetic component in order to study the interaction of environment with genes, which is believed to play a role in development of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and stroke. These analyses will be done as part of the PURE study when an adequate number of participants with contrasting lifestyles, ethnic backgrounds and the diseases mentioned earlier, are recruited, in order to draw statistically meaningful conclusions.

Following the physical assessment, participants will be asked to fill out 6 questionnaires about their health, diet, and exercise, and any use of tobacco, alcohol and medications. Two of these questionnaires will be sent to their homes, so that they may complete them prior to their clinic appointments.  The total time of each clinic visit will be approximately 1.5 hours: 30 minutes for completion of the physical assessment and 1 hour for the questionnaires.

[Back to top]

 
Are there risks involved in any of the procedures?

Participation in this study involves minimal risk. The blood samples will be obtained by venipuncture – a standard procedure for blood drawing involving puncturing the vein in your arm to collect a blood sample.  This harmless procedure will be conducted by a qualified phlebotomist. The side effects are rare but may include brief discomfort with the insertion of the venipuncture needle and there may occasionally be some bruising but this usually clears up in a few days.  Fainting may occur, however, medical staff will be present to take the appropriate action to treat participants in the unlikely event that they feel unwell during this procedure. In extremely rare instances, inflammation of the vein can occur.

[Back to top]

 

What are the benefits of participation?

Participation in this study will provide valuable information on the extent of health problems associated with cardiovascular risk factors and disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity in the communities of the Champlain District.  In particular, the information collected may help us better understand the causes of these diseases and may help prevent and treat them in the future in your community, and in communities around the world.

[Back to top]

 

Is there any compensation for participation?

In the event of research-related side-effects or injury, participants will be provided with appropriate medical treatment. We also will cover parking costs and provide participants with a light snack.

[Back to top]

 

How do I ensure that my personal information is safe guarded?  

Ensuring your confidentiality is very important to us.  Any information obtained from participants during this study will be kept confidential to the full extent required by law. As part of this research protocol, the Principal Investigator and their clinical research staff will review the health information collected from participants. These records may also be reviewed by representatives of the Heart Institute Human Research Ethics Board under the supervision of the investigator.  In order to guarantee confidentiality and anonymity of information, a number code will be used to identify participants on all research documents and no personal identifying information will appear on any of the research materials and will also be removed from any data collected and stored separately. Participants will not be identified in any way on all future publications or presentations. If results are used for secondary data analyses, only participant codes will appear on research documents.

[Back to top]

 

What exactly is the use and importance of results obtained?

We aim to measure and report on the prevalence and trends of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and CVD risk factors (diabetes, hypertension or high blood pressure, stress, smoking, physical inactivity, nutrition) among residents of the Champlain District. Since most CVD is preventable, availability of actionable information will support program and intervention planning and performance management activities. Through early management of CVD risk factors, significant impacts can be made on reducing the costs of the disease.

[Back to top]

 

What is the PURE study and how does this study align with the CCHHS?

The PURE (Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiologic) international study is looking to better understand why the rates for developing diseases such as obesity, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are different from one population to another.  This is a long-term study that will follow approximately 14,000 people from 15 countries, for a period of at least 12 years.  For more information about the PURE study, visit www.ccc.mcmaster.ca/pure/index.html.

We have adapted the PURE protocol for our purposes – will use some of their questionnaires and physical assessment models, but altered the sampling strategy to make it more statistically valid for the residents of the Champlain District.

[Back to top]